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LIFE 


ABRAHAM  LINCOLN, 


HIS  EABLT  HISTORY,  POLITICAL  CABEEK,  AND  SPEECHES  IN  AND  OUT 
OF  CONGRESS ;  ALSO   A  GENERAL   VIEW  OF  HIS  POLICY 


PRESIDENT  OF  THE  UNITED  STATES; 


MESSAGES,  PROCLAMATIONS,  LETTERS,  ETC. 


AHD  A  CONCISE 


HISTORY  OF  THE  WAR, 


BY 

JOSEPH    H.    BARRETT. 


CINCINNATI: 
MOORE,  WILSTACH  &  BALDWIN, 

26    WEST    FOUBT.H    STREET. 

1865. 


Entered  according  to  Act  of  Congress,  in  the  year  1864,  by 

MOORE,  WILSTACH  &  BALDWIN, 

the  Clerk's  Office  of  the  District  Court  of  the  United  States  for  the  Southern 
District  of  Ohio. 


T  T  M  >I  JlJUt '  '.  I!    M  s  "  :i  ^  ^  T. 


£ 

MS7 


THE  first  part  of  the  sketch  of  Mr.  Lincoln's  life,  herewith 
presented  to  the  public,  was  prepared  for  the  press  in  June, 
1860 — only  slight  modifications  having  been  made,  and  brief 
additions,  so  as  to  embrace  the  period  terminating  with  hia 
inauguration.  This  portion  of  the  work  embodies  a  condensed 
view  of  Mr.  Lincoln's  speeches,  which  can  not  fail  to  interest 
the  attentive  student,  who  seeks  for  information  concerning 
his  early  political  life.  The  second  part,  after  a  summary  of 
National  events  immediately  preceding  March  4,  1861,  gives  a 
condensed  history  of  Mr.  Lincoln's  Administration,  including 
a  narrative  of  military  operations,  down  to  the  present  time. 
The  most  important  public  papers,  addresses  and  occasional  let- 
ters of  the  President,  will  also  be  found  in  the  following  pages. 

It  has  been  the  fortune  of  Mr.  Lincoln  to  be  called  to  the 
Chief  Magistracy,  at  an  epoch  when  a  long-maturing  con- 
spiracy for  the  dismemberment  of  the  Union  has  culminated  in 
a  war  of  unprece4ented  magnitude.  The  President,  tried  as 
none  of  his  predecessors  ever  were,  has  so  wisely  exercised  his 
power  as  to  command  the  hearty  support  of  all  loyal  men  at 
home,  and  the  admiration  of  enlightened  thinkers,  unperverted 
by  anti-democratic  prejudice  in  Europe.  It  was  a  late  member 
of  the  British  Parliament  who  pointed  out  single  passages  from 
an  address  of  Mr.  Lincoln,  as  worth  "  all  that  Burke  overwrote." 
His  able  statesmanship  has  justified  the  confidence  of  the  peo- 
ple, while  his  sterling  qualities  of  heart,  his  humane  sympa- 

3 


thies,  his  purity  of  life,  and  his  power  of  winning  the  love  and 
trust  of  his  countrymen,  have  contributed  to  deepen  the  earn- 
estness of  the  popular  wish  for  his  continuance,  during  another 
term,  in  the  high  office  he  providentially  fills. 

It  is  hardly  to  be  hoped  that  the  present  attempt  to  treat  so 
wide  a  subject,  within  BO  small  a  compass,  will  satisfy  all  read- 
ers. Many  minor  details,  of  special  interest  to  individuals, 
have  necessarily  been  omitted.  Some  accounts  of  military  and 
naval  undertakings,  which  might,  of  themselves,  have  filled  an 
entire  volume,  have  been  given  with  perhaps  a  disappointing 
brevity.  It  must  suffice  to  say,  here,  that  no  pains  have  been 
spared — as  no  requisite  facilities  for  obtaining  correct  data  have 
been  lacking — to  make  the  work  not  only  trustworthy  and 
complete  in  regard  to  matters  of  salient  interest,  but  also  as 
acceptable  as  possible  to  all  classes  of  loyal  readers. 

WASHINGTON,  D.  C.,  May  14,  1864.  J.  H.  B. 


CONTENTS. 


PART    I. 


CHAPTER    I.  . 

Preliminary  Remarks—  Ancestry  of  Abraham  Lincoln—  Their  Residence  In  Penn- 
sylvania and  Virginia—  His  Grandfather  Crosses  the  Alleghanies  to  join  Boone 
and  his  Associates  —  "  The  Dark  and  Bloody  Ground  "-*-His  Violent  Death  —  His 
Widow  Settles  in  Washington  County—  Thomas  Lincoln,  his  Son,  Marries  and 
Locates  near  Hodgeuville  —  Birth  of  Abraham  Lincoln  —  LaRue  County  —  Early 
Life  and  Training  ill  Kentucky  ...........  ...........................  ........  ............  ........  ....  9 

CHAPTER    II. 

Removal  from  Kentucky  —  An  Emigrant  Journey  —  The  Forests  of  Southern  Indi- 
ana —  New  Home  —  Indiana  in  1816  —  Slavery  and  Free  Labor  —  Young  Lincoln  at 
His  Work  —  His  Schools  and  Schoolmasters  —  Self-Education  —  A  Characteristic 
Incident—  Acquaintance  with  River  Life—  His  First  Trip  to  New  Orleans  as  a 
Flat  boatman—  Death  of  His  Mother—  His  Father's  Second  Marriage—  Recollec- 
tions of  an  Early  Settler  —  Close  of  an  Eventful  Period  in  Young  Lincoln's 
History  ........................................................................  ..............  ...................  21 

CHAPTER    III. 

The  French  Settlements  —  The  North-West  —  The  Advance  of  Emigration  —  Four 
Great  States  Founded—  North  and  South  in  Ohio,  Indiana,  and  Illinois—  Senti- 
ments of  Southern  Emigrants—  The  First  Emigrations—  A  Coincidence  of  Dates— 
Mordecai  and  Josiah  Lincoln  —  Removal  to  Illinois  —  Settlement  on  the  San- 

famon,  in  Macon  County  —  Locality  Described  —  Abraham  Lincoln  Splits  Throe 
housand  Rails—  Removal  of  His  Father—  They  Separate—  His  Father  Spends 
the  rest  of  his  Days  in  Coles  County  —  Abraham  Lincoln  makes  another  Trip  as 
a  Flatboatman  —  Becomes  Clerk  in  a  Store  on  His  Return  —  Leaves  the  Business,    30 

CHAPTER    IV. 

Breaking  Out  of  the  Black  Hawk  War—  The  Invasion  of  1831—  The  Rock-river 
Country  Threatened—  Prompt  Action-  of  GOT.  Reynolds  —  Retreat  of  Black 
Hawk—  Treaty  of  180-1—  Bad  Faith  of  the  Indians-Invasion  of  1832—  Volun- 
teers Called  For  —  Abraham  Lincoln  one  ef  a  Company  from  Menard  County  — 
He  is  chosen  Captain  —  Rendezvous  at  Beardstown  —  Hard  Marches  across  tho 
Country  to  Oquawka,  Prophetstown,  and  Dixon—  Expected  Battle.  Avoided  by 
the  Enemy  —  Discontent  among  Volunteers  —  They  are  Disbanded  —  Captain  Lin- 


coln Remains,  Volunteering  for  Another  Term  of  Service  —  Skirmishing  Fights  — 
Arrival  of  New  Levies—  Encounter  at  Kellogg's  Grove—  Black  Hawk  at  Fon 
Lakes—  He  Retreats—  Battle  on  the  Wisconsin—  Hastens  Forward  to  the  Mis 


sissippi  —  Battle  of  Bad-ax  —  End  of  Lincoln's  First  Campaign  —  Autobiographic 

CHAPTER    V. 

A  New  Period  in  Mr.  Lincoln's  Life—  His  Political  Opinions—  Clay  and  Jackson- 
First  Run  as  a  Candidate  for  Representative—  Election  in  1834—  Illinois  Strongly 
Democratic  —  Mr.  Lincoln  as  a  Surveyor  —  Laud  Speculation  Mania  —  Mr.  Liu- 
coin's  First  Appearance  in  th*  Legislature  —  Banks  and  Internal  Improve- 
ments—Whig M-asurea  Democratically  Botched—  First  Sleeting  of  Lincoln 
with  Douglas—  The  Latter  Seeks  an  Office  of  the  Legislature,  and  Gets  it—  Mr. 
Lincoln  Re-elected  in  1*30—  Mr.  Douglas  also  a  Member  of  the  House—  Distin- 
guished Associates—  Internal  Improvements  Again—  Mr.  Lincoln's  Views  on 
fMnvrr.v—  The  Capital  R.-moved  to  Springfield—  The  Now  Metropolis—  Revulsion 
of  1837  —  Mr.  Lincoln  Chosen  for  a  Third  Torm  —  John  Citlhouu,  of  Lecompton 
Memory  —  Lincoln  the  Whig  Lender,  aad  Candidate  for  S|>caker  —  Close  Vote  — 

5 


Vi  CONTENTS. 

First  Session  at  Springfield— Lincoln  Re-elected  in  1810— Partisan  Remodeling 
of  the  Supreme  Court— Lincoln  Declines  Further  Service  in  the  Legislature— 
His  Position  as  a  Statesman  at  the  Close  of  this  Period— Tribune  of  tho  People,  47 

CHAPTER    VI. 

Mr.  Lincoln's  Law  Studies— His  Perseverance  under  Adverse  Circumstances- 
Licensed  to  Practice  in  183C— His  Progress  in  his  Profession— His  Qualities  as 
an  Advocate — A  Romantic  and  Exciting  Incident  in  his  Practice — Reminiscence 
of  his  Early  Life— Renders  Material  Service  to  the  Family  of  an  Old  Friend- 
Secures  an  Acquittal  in  a  Murder  Case,  in  Spite  of  a  Strong  Popular  Prejudice 
Against  the  Prisoner — Affecting  Scene — Mr.  Lincoln  Removes  to  Springfield  in 
1837— Devotes  Himself  to  his  Profession,  Giving  up  Political  Life— His  Mar- 
riage—Family of  Mrs.  Lincoln— Fortunate  Domestic  Relations— His  Children 
and  their  Education— Denominational  Tendencies— Four  Years'  Retirement 62 

CHAPTEB    VII. 

Mr.  Lincoln's  Devotion  to  Henry  Clay— Presidential  Nominations  of  1844— The 
Campaign  in  Illinois — Mr.  Lincoln  makes  an  Actjve  Canvass  for  Clay — John 
Calhonn  the  Leading  Polk  Elector — The  Tariff  Issue  Thoroughly  Discussed — 
Method  of  Conducting  the  Canvass— Whigs  of  Illinois  in  a  Hopeless  Minority- 
Mr.  Lincoln's  Reputation  as  a  Whig  Champion— Renders  Efficient  Service  in 
Indiana— Mr.  Clay's  Defeat,  and  the  Consequences — Mr.  Lincoln  a  Candidate  for 
Congressman  in  1846 — President  Folk's  Administration — Condition  of  the  Coun- 
try—Texas Annexation,  the  Mexican  War,  and  the  Tariff— Political  Character 
of  the  Springfield  District— Lincoln  Elected  by  an  Unprecedented  Majority- 
Ills  Personal  Popularity  Demonstrated _™ 08 

CHAPTER     VIII. 

The  Thirtieth  Congress — Its  Political  Character — The  Democracy  in  a  Minority 
in  the  House— Robert  C.  Winthrop  Elected  Speaker— Distinguished  Members  in 
both  Houses— Mr.  Lincoln  takes  his  Seat  as  a  Member  of  the  House,  and  Mr. 
Douglas  for  the  first  time  as  a  Member  of  the  Senate,  at  the  same  Session — Mr. 
Lincoln's  Congressional  Record  that  of  a  Clay  and  Webster  Whig — The  Mexi- 
can War — Mr.  Lincoln's  Views  on  the  Subject — Misrepresentations — Not  an 
Available  Issue  for  Mr.  Lincoln's  Opponents— His  Resolutions  of  Inquiry  in 
Regard  to  the  Origin  of  the  War — Mr.  Richardson's  Resolutions  Indorsing 
the  Administration  —  Mr.  Richardson's  Resolutions  for  an  Immediate  Dis- 
continuance of  the  War — Are  Voted  Against  by  Mr.  Lincoln — Resolutions 
of  Thanks  to  Gen.  Taylor — Mr.  Henley's  Amendment,  and  Mr.  Ashmun's  Addi- 
tion thereto — Resolutions  Adopted  without  Amendment — Mr.  Lincoln's  First 
Speech  in  Congress,  on  the  Mexican  War — Mr.  Lincoln  on  Internal  Improve- 
ments—A Characteristic  Campaign  Speech— Mr.  Lincoln  on  the  Nomination  of 
Gen.  Taylor;  the  Veto  Power ;  National  Issues  ;  President  and  People  ;  Wil- 
mot  Proviso  ;  Platforms;  Democratic  Sympathy  for  Clay  ;  Military  Heroes  and 
Exploits  ;  Cass  a  Progressive  ;  Extra  Pay  ;  the  Whigs  and  the  Mexican  War ; 
Democratic  Divisions— Close  of  the  Session— Mr.  Lincoln  on  the  Stump— Gen. 
Taylor's  Election— Second  Session  of  the  Thirtieth  Congress— Slavery  in  the 
District  of  Columbia — The  Public  Lands — Mr.  Lincoln  as  a  Congressman — He 
Retires  to  Private  life „ T2 

CHAPTER    IX. 

Mr.  Lincoln  in  Retirement  for  Five  Tears — Gen.  Taylor's  Administration — The 
Slavery  Agitation  of  1850— The  Compromise  of  Clay  and  Fillmore— The  "  Final 
Settlement  "  of  1852— How,  and  by  Whom  it  was  Disturbed— Violation  of  the 
Most  Positive  Pledges— The  Kansas-Nebraska  Bill— Douglas,  the  Agitator- 
Popular  Indignation  and  Excitement — Mr.  Lincoln  Takes  part  in  the  Canvass 
of  1854— Great  Political  Changes— The  Anti-Nebraska  Organization— Springfield 
Resolutions  of  1854— Results  of  the  Election— A  Majority  of  Congressmen  and 
of  the  Legislature  Anti-Nebraska—Election  of  United  States  Senator  to  Sue- 
ceed  Gen.  Shields— Mr.  Lincoln  and  Mr.  Trumbull— A  Magnanimous  Sacrifice- 
Mr.  Trumbull  Elected 119 

CHAPTER    X. 

The  Republican  Party  Organized — Their  Platform  Adopted  at  Bloomington — The 
Canvass  of  1856 — Mr.  Lincoln  Sustains  Fremont  and  Dayton — His  Active  Labors 
on  the  Stump — Col.  Bissdl  Elected  Governor  of  Illinois — Mr.  Buchanan  Inau- 
gurated—His Kansas  Policy— Mr.  Douglas  Committed  to  it  in  June,  1857-John 
Calboun  his  Special  Friend— The  Springfield  Speech  of  Douglas— Mr.  Lincoln's 
Reply „.„.  .... 127 


CONTENTS.  Vii 

/ 
CHAPTER    XI. 

Tin  Lecompton  Struggle— The  Policy  of  Douglas  Changed-He  Breaks  with  the 
Administration  and  Loses  Caete  at  the  South — Republican  Sympathies — Douglas 
Falters,  but  Opposes  the  English  Bill — Passage  of  that  Measure — Democratic 
State  Convention  of  Illinois— Douglas  Indorsed,  and  Efforts  for  his  Re-election 
Commenced — The  Democratic  Bolt — Meeting  of  the  Republican  State  Conven- 
tion in  June — Mr.  Lincoln  Named  as  the  First  and  Only  Choice  of  tho  Republi- 
cans for  Senator — His  Great  Speech  Before  the  Convention  at  Springfield — Doug- 
las and  Lincoln  at  Chicago— Speeches  at  Bloomington  and  Springfield— Unfair 
ness  of  the  Apportionment  Pointed  Out  by  Mr.  Lincoln — He  Analyzes  the 
Douglas  Programme — Seven  Joint  Debates — Douglas  Produces  a  Bogus  Plat- 
form, and  Propounds  Interrogatories  —  "Unfriendly  Legislation" — Lincoln 
Fully  Defines  his  Position  on  the  Slavery  Question — Result  of  the  Canvass — The 
People  for  Lincoln  ;  the  Apportionment  for  Douglas— Public  Opinion 141 

CHAPTER     XII. 

Mr.  Lincoln  in  Ohio— His  Speech  at  Columbus— Denial  of  the  Negro  Suffrage 
Charge — Troubles  of  Douglaa  with  his  "Great  Principle" — Territories  not 
States— Doctrines  of  the  Fathers— His  Cincinnati  Speech—"  Shooting  Over  the 
Line  " — What  the  Republicans  Mean  to  Do — Plain  Questions  to  the  Democracy — 
The  People  Above  Courts  and  Congress — Uniting  the  Opposition — Eastern  Tour — 
The  Cooper  Institute  Speech— Mr.  Bryant's  Introduction— What  the  Fathers 
Held— What  will  Satisfy  the  Southern  Democracy— Counsels  to  the  Republi- 
cans— Mr.  Lincoln  Among  the  Children •«....  182 

CHAPTER    XIII. 

The  Republican  National  Convention  at  Chicago— The  Charleston  Explosion— 
"  Constitutional  Union  "  Nominations— Distinguished  Candidates  Among  the 
Republicans — The  Platform — Tho  Ballotings — Mr.  Lincoln  Nominated — Unpar- 
alleled Enthusiasm— The  Ticket  Completed  with  the  Name  of  Senator  H  ami  in— 
Its  Reception  by  the  Country— Mr.  Lincoln's  Letter  of  Acceptance 190 


PART    II. 

CHAPTER    I. 

Commencement  of  President  Lincoln's  Administration — Retrospect  and    Sum- 
mary of  Public  Events— Fort  Sumter » 197 

CHAPTER    II. 

The  Loyal  Uprising— The  Border  Slave  States— Summary  of  Events— Battle  of 
Bull  Run _ .. 227 

CHAPTER    III. 

Extra  Session  of  Congress— President  Lincoln's  Message— Rebel  Affairs  at  Rich- 
mond  ^ .7 _ 254 

CHAPTER    IV. 

Military  Reorganization— Resume  of  Events  to  the  December  Session  of  Con- 
gress— Action  in  Regard  to  "  Contrabands  "  and  Slavery ^.^ 274 

CHAPTER    V. 

The  President's  Message,  December,  1861— Proceedings  of  Congress— Emancipa- 
tion—Confiscation— Messages  and  Addresses  of  Mr.  Lincoln 293 

CHAPTER    VI. 

Military  Events— Inaction  on  the  Potomac— Western  Campaign— Capture  of  New 
Orleans „ „ „..„...  320 


Viii  CONTENTS. 

CHAPTER    VII. 

Military  Events  In  the  East— The  Peninsular  Campaign 

OHAPTEK    VIII. 

Campaign  of  the  Army  of  Virginia— Withdrawal  of  the  Army  of  the  Potomac 
from  the  Peninsula— First  Invasion  of  Maryland— McClellan  Superseded 384 

CHAPTEB    IX. 

A  New  Era  Inaugurated— Emancipation— Message  of  the  President— Last  Session 
of  the  Thirty-seventh  Congress 410 

CHAPTEB    X. 

Summary  of  Military  Movements  in  the  West — Army  of  the  Potomac — General 
Hooker  Superseded— (Jen.  Meade  takes  Command— Battle  of  Gettysburg >..  437 

CHAPTEB    XI. 

The  Popular  Voice  in  1863— First  Session  of  the  Thirty-eighth  Congress— Am- 
nesty Proclamation — Message — Orders,  Letters,  and  Addresses — Popular  Senti- 
ment in  1864 — Appointment  of  Lieutenant  General  Grant — Opening  of  the 
Military  Campaigns  of  1804 — Conclusion 451 


APPENDIX. 

Bespecting  Soldiers  Absent  without  Leave 484 

A  National  Fast 485 

The  Draft— A  Proclamation  by  the  President 486 

The  President's  Letter  to  Gen.  Schofield  Relative  to  the  Removal  of  Gen.  Curtis...  488 

Proclamation  for  a  day  of  National  Thanksgiving  because  of  Signal  Victories  on 
Sea  and  Land ^ 490 

Letter  from  the  President  to  Hon.  Erastus  Corning  and  Others 491 

The  President's  Reply  to  the  Committee  from  Ohio  Urging  the  Recall  of  Mr. 
Vallandigham 499 

Letters  from  President  Lincoln  to  Gov.  Seymour,  of  New  York,  Relative  to  the 
Draft  in  that  State 503 

The  Suspension  of  the  Writ  of  Habeas  Corpus  Ordered  in  Certain  Cases 506 

President  Lincoln's  Letter  to  Gen.  Schofield 607 

Thanksgiving 508 

President  Lincoln's  Reply  to  Hon.  Charles  D.  Drake  and  Others ^....  609 

A  Call  for  Three  Hundred  Thousand  Volunteers 614 

Rev.  Dr.  McPheeters — The  President's  Reply  to  an  Appeal  for  Interference 316 

An  Election  Ordered  in  the  State  of  Arkansas , 616 

The  President's  Proclamation  of  the  8th  of  December,  1863— Explanation— Cases 
Defined „ 617 


I. 


CHAPTER  I. 

MR.  LINCOLN'S  EARLY  BOYHOOD  IN  KENTUCKY. 

Preliminary  Remarks. — Ancestry  of  Abraham  Lincoln. — Their  Resi- 
dence in  Pennsylvania  and  Virginia. — His  Grandfather  Crosses  the 
Alleghanies  to  join  Boone  and  his  Associates. — "The  Dark  and 
Bloody  Ground."— His  Violent  Death. — His  Widow  Settles  in  Wash- 
ington County. — Thomas  Lincoln,  his  Son,  Marries  and  Locates  near 
Hodgenville. — Birth  of  Abraham  Lincoln. — La  Rue  County. — His 
Early  Life  and  Training  in  Kentucky. 

THE  name  of  no  living  man  is  more  prominent,  at  this 
moment,  on  the  lips  and  in  the  thoughts  of  the  American 
people,  than  that  of  ABRAHAM  LINCOLN.  This  happens  not 
merely  because,  as  the  candidate  of  a  party,  he  has  won 
the  highest  political  honors.  He  has  a  hold  upon  the  public 
mind  which  a  partisan  election  alone  can  not  account  for.  This 
event,  indeed,  is  the  effect  rather  than  the  cause.  An  over- 
whelming popular  enthusiasm  in  certain  States  where  he  is 
best  known  (and  manifested  also  by  the  assembled  crowds  at 
Chicago,  during  the  memorable  week  of  the  Convention)  did 
much  to  turn  the  poising  balance  in  his  favor,  and  to  determine 
his  selection  as  a  candidate  over  all  his  distinguished  com- 
petitors. 

What  Robert  Burns  has  proverbially  been  to  the  people  of 
his  native  land,  and,  to  a  certain  extent,  of  all  lands,  as  a  bard, 
Abraham  Lincoln  seems  to  have  become  to  us  as  a  statesman 
and  a  patriot,  by  his  intimate  relations  alike  with  the  humbler 
and  the  higher  walks  of  life.  By  his  own  native  energy  and 

9 


10  LIFE   OF   ABRAHAM    LINCOLN. 

endowment,  he  has  risen  from  a  place  of  humble  obscurity  to 
a  commanding  position  and  power  among  his  fellow-men,  and 
achieved  an  enduring  fame.  The  experiences  of  the  "  toiling 
millions,"  whether  of  gladness  or  of  sorrow,  have  been  his 
experiences.  He  has  an  identity  with  them,  such  as  common 
toils  and  common  emotions  have  produced.  Thus  and  other- 
wise he  has  become,  in  person  no  less  than  in  principle,  a 
genuine  representative  man  in  the  great  cause  of  FREE  LABOR. 

This  is  not  the  time  to  enter  very  minutely  into  the  details 
of  the  private  life  of  Mr.  LINCOLN.  Still  in  the  prime  of  his 
manhood,  with  long  years  of  public  service  apparently  yet 
before  him,  and  with  so  large  a  proportion  of  those  who  have 
been  associated  with  him  now  remaining  on  the  stage  of 
action,  no  multiplied  and  indiscriminate  relations,  designed 
merely  to  gratify  public  curiosity,  should  be  expected  in  this 
connection.  When  the  grand  era  on  which,  individually,  he 
is  now  entering,  shall  have  closed,  let  the  more  intimate  and 
searching  history  of  all  that  he  has  done,  said  and  suffered, 
whether  as  a  public  or  as  a  private  citizen,  be  attempted  by 
other  and  more  ambitious  hands.  It  is  rather  the  purpose 
of  the  present  work  to  furnish  the  true  and  complete  outline 
of  a  life,  which,  though  not  uneventful,  or  wanting  in  enticing 
suggestions  to  the  imagination,  often  tempting  the  writer  aside 
into  romantic  episodes  and  gossiping  researches,  is  more 
immediately  interesting  at  this  time  as  throwing  light  upon 
the  mystery  we  have  noted  at  the  outset,  and  as  bearing 
directly  upon  the  present  state  of  our  national  politics,  to 
which  Mr.  Lincoln  now  holds  so  important  a  relation. 

The  reader  is  here  given  a  reliable  account  of  the  main 
events  of  a  remarkable  career ;  and  should  his  curiosity  at  any 
fitage  demand  more  than  is  given,  he  may  rest  assured  that 
nothing  has  been  designedly  omitted  or  glossed  over,  that 
tends  to  illustrate  the  character,  or  to  affect  the  public  stand- 
ing of  the  statesman  who  is  the  subject  of  this  memoir.  Char- 
acteristic anecdotes  and  personal  incidents  currently  related  of 
him  will  only  be  noted  in  these  pages  when  clearly  authentic. 
Those  of  questionable  authority,  or  ascertained  to  be  positively 
fictitious,  will  be  carefully  excluded.  No  statement  is  haz- 


J 

LIFE   OF   ABRAHAM    LINCOLN.  11 

arded  which  is  not  capable  of  verification.  A  candid  estimate 
of  the  man,  and  an  accurate  representation  of  his  opinions 
and  past  acts  as  a  statesman,  have  been  attempted,  and  such 
as  shall  deserve  the  implicit  confidence  of  the  people,  of  what- 
ever class  or  partizan  predilection.  Facts  are  set  down  with- 
out eulogistic  comment,  and  the  views  of  Mr.  Lincoln,  with 
such  explanations  as  justice  may  seem  to  require,  will  usually 
be  given  in  his  own  words. 


The  ancestors  of  ABRAHAM  LINCOLN  were  of  English 
descent.  We  find  the  earliest  definite  traces  of  them  in  Berks 
county,  Pennsylvania,  though  this  was  almost  certainly  not  the 
first  place  of  their  residence  in  this  country.  Their  location, 
and  their  adherence  to  the  Quaker  faith,  make  it  probable  that 
the  original  emigration  occurred  under  the  auspices  of  WM. 
PENN,  or  at  least  in  company  with  those  who  sympathized  and 
shared  in  his  colonizing  movement.  It  was  doubtless  a  branch 
of  the  same  family  that,  leaving  England  under  different 
religious  impulses,  but  with  the  same  adventurous  and  inde- 
pendent spirit,  settled,  at  an  earlier  date,  in  Old  Plymouth 
Colony.  The  separation  may  possibly  have  taken  place  this 
side  of  the  Atlantic,  and  not  beyond.  Some  of  the  same  traits 
appear  conspicuously  in  both  these  family  groups.  One  tra- 
dition indeed  affirms  that  the  Pennsylvania  branch  was  trans- 
planted from  Hingham,  Mass.,  and  was  derived  from  a  common 
stock  with  Colonel  Benjamin  Lincoln,  of  Revolutionary  fame. 
There  is  a  noticeable  coincidence  in  the  general  prevalence, 
among  each  American  branch,  of  Scriptural  names  in  christen- 
ing— the  Benjamin,  Levi,  and  Ezra,  of  Massachusetts,  having 
their  counterpart  in  the  Abraham,  Thomas,  and  Josiah,  of 
Virginia  and  Kentucky.  The  peculiarity  is  one  to  have  been 
equally  expected  among  sober  Friends,  and  among  zealous 
Puritans. 

Berks  county  can  not  have  been  very  long  the  home  of  Mr. 
Lincoln's  immediate  progenitors.  There  Can  hardly  have  been 
more  than  a  slender  pioneer  settlement  there,  up  to  the  time 
that  one  or  mora  of  the  number  made  another  remove,  not  far 


12  LIFE   OF   ABRAHAM    LINCOLN. 

from  1750,  to  what  is  now  Rockingham  county,  Virginia.  Old 
Berks  was  first  settled  about  1734, — then,  too,  as  a  German 
colony — and  was  not  organized  as  a  county  until  1752 ;  before 
which  date,  according  to  family  traditions,  this  removal  to 
Virginia  took  place. 

This,  it  will  be  observed,  was  pre-eminently  a  pioneer  stock, 
evidently  much  in  love  with  backwoods  adventure,  and  con- 
stantly courting  the  dangers  and  hardships  of  forest- life. 

Kockingham  county,  Virginia,  though  intersected  by  the 
beautiful  valley  of  the  Shenandoah,  or  rather  by  two  valleys 
made  by  its  chief  forks,  not  very  far  from  their  junction,  and 
inviting,  by  its  natural  resources,  the  advances  of  civilization, 
must  nevertheless  have  been,  at  the  time  just  mentioned,  in 
the  very  heart  of  the  wilderness.  Now,  it  is  one  of  the  most 
productive  counties  of  Virginia,  having  exceeded  every  other 
county  in  the  State,  according  to  the  census  of  1850,  in  its 
crops  of  wheat  and  hay.  A  branch  of  the  family,  it  is  under- 
stood, still  remains  there,  to  enjoy  the  benefits  of  so  judicious 
a  selection,  and  of  the  labors  and  imperfectly  requited  endur- 
ances of  these  first  settlers.  It  was  more  than  thirty  years  later 
than  the  arrival  there  of  the  Lincolns  of  Pennsylvania,  that 
Rockingham  county  first  had  an  organized  political  existence. 

From  this  locality,  about  the  year  1780.  perhaps  a  little 
later,  Abraham  Lincoln,  grandfather  of  the  one  who  now  bears 
that  name,  started  westward  across  the  Alleghanies,  attracted 
by  the  accounts  which  had  reached  him  of  the  wonderfully 
fertile  and  lovely  country  explored  by  Daniel  Boone,  on  and 
near  the  Kentucky  river.  During  all  his  lifetime,  hitherto, 
he  could  have  known  little  of  any  other  kind  of  existence  than 
that  to  which  he  had  been  educated  as  an  adventurous  fron- 
tiersman. The  severe  labor  of  preparing  the  heavily  timbered 
lands  of  the  Shenandoah  for  cultivation,  the  wild  delights  of 
hunting  the  then  abundant  game  of  the  woods,  and  the  exciting 
hazards  of  an  uncertain  warfare  with  savage  enemies,  had  been 
almost  the  sole  occupations  of  his  rough  but  healthful  life. 
Perhaps  the  settlements  around  him  had  already  beerun  to  be 
too  far  advanced  for  the  highest  enjoyment  of  his  character- 
istic mode  of  living  ;.  or  possibly,  with  others,  he  aspired  to  the 


LIFE  OP  ABRAHAM    LINCOLN.  13 

possession  of  more  fertile  fields,  and  to  an  easier  subsistence, 
with  new  forest-expanses  more  eligible  for  the  delights  of  the 
chase.  Whatever  the  reason,  he  set  out  at  the  time  just 
stated,  with  his  wife  and  several  young  children,  on  his  long 
journey  across  the  mountains,  and  over  the  broad  valleys 
intervening  between  the  Shenandoah  and  the  Kentucky. 

At  this  date,  and  for  ten  or  twelve  years  later,  the  present 
State  of  Kentucky  formed  part  of  the  old  Commonwealth  of 
Virginia.  "  The  dark  and  bloody  ground,"  as  afterward 
named  for  better  reasons  than  the  fiction  which  assigns  this 
meaning  to  its  Indian  appellation,  had  then  been  but  recently 
entered  upon  by  the  white  man.  Its  first  explorer,  Daniel 
Boone,  whose  very  name  suggests  a  whole  world  of  romance 
and  adventure,  had  removed,  when  a  mere  boy,  among  the 
earlier  emigrants  from  Eastern  Pennsylvania,  to  Berks  county. 
Here  he  must  have  been  a  contemporary  resident,  and  was  per- 
haps an  acquaintance,  of  some  of  the  younger  members  of  the 
Lincoln  family.  At  all  events,  as  substantially  one  of  their 
own  neighbors,  they  must  have  watched  his  later  course  with 
eager  interest  and  sympathy,  and  caught  inspiration  from  his 
exploits.  At  eighteen,  Boone  had  again  emigrated,  with  his 
father  as  before,  to  the  banks  of  the  Yadkin,  a  mountain  river 
in  the  north-west  of  North  Carolina,  at  just  about  the  same 
date  as  the  removal  of  the  Lincolns  to  Virginia.  Some  years 
later,  Boone,  in  his  hunting  excursions,  had  passed  over  and 
admired  large  tracts  of  the  wilderness  north  of  his  home,  and 
especially  along  a  branch  of  the  Cumberland  river,  within  the 
limits  of  what  is  now  Kentucky.  It  was  not  until  1769,  how- 
ever, that,  with  five  associates,  he  made  the  thorough  explora- 
tion of  the  Kentucky  valley,  which  resulted  in  the  subsequent 
settlements  there.  The  glowing  descriptions  which  ultimately 
got  abroad  of  the  incredible  richness  and  beauty  of  these  new 
and  remote  forest-climes  of  Trans-Alleghanian  Virginia,  and 
of  their  alluring  hunting-grounds,  must  have  early  reached  the 
ears  of  the  boyhood-companions  of  Daniel  Boone,  and  spread 
through  the  neighboring  country.  The  stirring  adv.entures 
of  the  pioneer  hero,  during  the  next  five  or  six  years,  and  the 
beginnings  of  substantial  settlements  in  that  far-west  country, 


14  LIFE    OP  ABRAHAM    LINCOLN. 

must  have  suggested  new  attractions  thitherward  to  the  more 
active  and  daring  spirits,  whose  ideal  of  manhood  Boone  so 
nearly  approached. 

From  the  borders,  in  various  directions,  hundreds  of  miles 
away,  emigration  had  now  begun.  These  recruits  were  from 
that  class  of  hardy  frontiersmen  most  inured  to  the  kind  of 
toils  they  were  to  encounter  anew  in  the  Kentucky  forests. 
They  went  forward,  fearless  of  the  dangers  to  be  encountered 
from  the  numerous  bands  of  Indians  already  recommencing 
hostilities,  after  a  temporary  pacification.  Here  was  a  com- 
mon territory  and  place  of  meeting  for  the  tribes,  both  of  the 
North  and  the  South,  and  here,  before  and  after  this  date, 
there  were  many  exciting  adventures  and  deadly  conflicts  with 
these  savages,  whose  favorite  haunts  had  been  thus  uncere- 
moniously invaded. 

It  was  not  far  from  the  date  of  the  disastrous  battle  of  the 
Lower  Blue  Licks,  that  the  grandfather  of  Mr.  Lincoln,  with 
his  young  family,  reached  the  region  which  had  perhaps  long 
been  the  promised  land  of  his  dreams.  This  transmigration 
was  certainly  some  time  later  than  1778,  and  earlier  than  1784, 
as  circumstances  hereafter  to  be  stated  will  show.  Boone, 
Kenton,  Harrod,  Floyd,  and  their  brave  associates,  were  still 
in  the  midst  of  the  great  struggles  which  have  given  them  last- 
ing memory  in  history.  Lincoln  was  ambitious  to  share  their 
fortunes,  and  to  fix  his  home  in  this  more  genial  and  opulent 
clime. 

The  exact  place  at  which  he  settled  is  not  known.  It  was 
somewhere  on  Floyd's  creek,  and  probably  near  its  mouth,  in 
what  is  now  Bullitt  county.  The  hopes  which  led  to  this 
change  of  his  home  were  not  destined  to  be  fulfilled.  He  had 
made  but  a  mere  beginning  in  his  new  pioneer  labors,  when, 
while  at  work  one  day,  at  a  distance  from  his  cabin,  unsuspect- 
ing of  danger,  he  was  killed  by  an  Indian,  who  had  stolen  upon 
him  unaware.  This  took  place  in  the  year  1784,  or  very  near 
that  time,  when  he  was  probably  not  more  than  thirty-five 
years  of  age.  His  widow,  thus  suddenly  bereaved  in  a  new 
and  strange  land,  had  now  their  three  sons  and  two  daughters 
left  to  her  sole  protection  and  care,  with  probably  little  means 


LIP!  OP  ABRAHAM    LINCOLN.  15 

for  their  support.  She  soon  after  removed  to  what  became 
Washington  county,  in  the  same  State,  not  far  distant,  and 
there  reared  her  children,  all  of  whom  reached  mature  age. 
One  of  the  daughters  was  married  to  a  Mr.  Grume,  and  the 
other  to  a  man  named  Bromfield.  The  three  sons,  respectively 
named  Thomas,  Mordecai,  and  Josiah,  all  remained  in  Ken 
tucky  until  after  their  majority. 

Thomas  Lincoln,  one  of  these  sons,  was  born  in  1778.  He 
was  a  mere  child  when  his  father  removed  to  Kentucky,  and 
was  but  six  years  old  at  the  time  of  the  latter's  death.  The 
date  of  this  event  was  consequently  about  1784.  Of  the  early 
life  of  the  orphan  boy,  we  have  no  knowledge,  except  what  can 
be  learned  of  the  general  lot  of  his  class,  and  of  the  habits  and 
modes  of  living  then  prevalent  among  the  hardy  pioneers  of 
Kentucky.  These  backwoodsmen  had  an  unceasing  round  of 
hard  toils,  with  no  immediate  reward  but  a  bare  subsistence 
from  year  to  year,  and  the  cheering  promise  of  better  days  in 
the  future.  But  even  their  lands,  as  in  the  case  of  Boone, 
they  were  not  always  so  fortunate  as  to  retain  in  fee. 

More  comfortable  days,  and  a  much  improved  state  of  things 
had  come,  before  Thomas  arrived  at  maturity,  but  in  his  boy 
hood  and  youth,  he  must  have  known  whatever  was  worst  in 
the  trials  and  penury  of  the  first  generation  of  Kentucky 
frontiersmen,  with  few  other  enjoyments  than  an  occasional 
practice  with  his  rifle.  His  training  was  suited  to  develop  a 
strong,  muscular  frame,  and  a  rugged  constitution,  with  a  char- 
acteristic quickness  of  perception  and  promptness  of  action. 
The  Kentuckian  of  that  and  the  succeeding  generation  had 
generally  a  tall,  stalwart  frame,  a  frank  and  courteous  heart, 
and  a  humorous  and  slightly  quaint  turn  of  speech ;  a  fondness 
for  adventure  and  for  the  sports  of  hunting ;  a  manly  self- 
respect,  and  a  fearless  independence  of  spirit. 

' "  Pride  in  their  port,  defiance  in  their  eye, 

***** 
Intent  on  high  designs,  a  thoughtful  band, 
By  forms  unfashioncd,  fresh  from  nature's  hand, 
Fierce  in  their  native  hardiness  of  soul' 
True  to  imagined  right,  above  control. 


16  LIFE  OP  ABRAHAM   LINCOLN. 

This  generation  began  its  life  with  the  independent  existence 
of  the  nation,  and  partook  largely  of  the  spirit  of  exultant 
self-confidence  then  abroad  through  the  land. 

These  were  the  circumstances  and  associations  under  which, 
in  those  primeval  days  in  Kentucky,  Thomas  Lincoln  passed 
through  the  period  of  boyhood  and  youth.  At  the  date  of  the 
political  separation  from  Virginia,  in  1792,  and  the  formation 
of  a  new  State,  this  orphan  boy,  struggling  to  aid  his  mother 
in  the  support  of  the  ill-fortuned  family,  had  reached  the  age 
of  fourteen.  The  currents  of  emigration  had  become  enlarged 
and  accelerated,  meantime,  until  the  population  was  swelled, 
as  early  as  1790,  to  more  than  73,000 ;  and  during  the  next 
ten  years  it  was  more  than  trebled,  reaching  220,000.  The 
wilderness  that  once  was  around  Boonesborough,  Harrodsburg, 
and  Lexington,  was  now  blossoming  as  the  rose.  Still,  how- 
ever, there  was  ample  space  unoccupied,  within  the  limits  of 
the  new  State,  for  those  who  craved  the  excitements  and  the 
loneliness  of  a  home  in  the  wilderness. 

In  1806,  Thomas  Lincoln,  being  then  twenty-eight  years  of 
age,  was  married  to  Nancy  Hanks,  a  native  of  Virginia,  and 
settled  in  what  was  then  Hardin  county,  Kentucky.  It  does 
not  appear  that  the  parents  of  Miss  Hanks  ever  removed  to 
Kentucky,  though  others  of  the  family  did  so.  Of  the  history 
of  her  ancestry,  we  have  no  definite  particulars.  Her  position 
in  life  appears  to  have  been  not  dissimilar  to  that  of  her  hus- 
band. That  she  possessed  some  rare  qualities  of  mind  and 
heart,  there  is  reason  to  believe ;  although,  dying  at  an  early 
age,  and  having,  from  the  time  of  her  marriage,  passed  her 
days  on  obscure  frontiers,  few  recollections  of  her  are  acces- 
sible. 

ABRAHAM  LINCOLN  was  born  of  these  parents  on  the  12th 
day  of  February,  1809.  The  place  where  they  at  this  time 
resided,  is  in  what  is  now  LaEue  county,  about  a  mile  and  a 
half  from  Hodgenville.  the  county  seat,  and  seven  miles  from 
Elizabethtown,  laid  off  several  years  previously,  and  the  county 
Beat  of  Hardin  county.  He  had  one  sister,' two  years  his 
senior,  who  grew  up  to  womanhood,  married,  and  died  while 
young.  He  had  a  brother,  two  years  younger  than  himself, 


LIFE   OF  ABRAHAM    LINCOLN.  17 

who  died  in  early  childhoood.  Mr.  Lincoln  remembers  to 
have  visited  the  now  unmarked  grave  of  this  little  one,  along 
with  his  mother,  before  leaving  Kentucky.  These  were  the 
only  children  of  Thomas  Lincoln,  either  by  the  present  or  by 
a  subsequent  marriage,  hereafter  to  be  noticed.  ABRAHAM 
has  thus,  for  a  long  time,  been  the  sole  immediate  representa- 
tive of  this  hardy  and  energetic  race. 

LaRue  county,  named  from  an  early  settler,  John  LaRue, 
was  set  off  and  separately  organized  in  1843,  the  portion  con- 
taining Mr.  Lincoln's  birthplace  having  been,  up  to  that  date, 
included  in  Hardin  county.  It  is  a  rich  grazing  country  in 
its  more  rolling  or  hilly  parts,  and  the  level  surface  produces 
good  crops  of  corn  and  tobacco.  In  the  northern  borders 
of  the  county,  on  the  Rolling  Fork  of  Salt  river,  is  Muld- 
row's  Hill,  a  noted  eminence.  Hodgenville,  near  which  Mr. 
Lincoln  was  born,  is  a  pleasantly  situated  town  on  Nolin 
creek,  and  a  place  of  considerable  business.  About  a  mile 
above  this  town,  on  the  creek,  is  a  mound,  or  knoll,  thirty  feet 
above  the  banks  of  the  stream,  containing  two  acres  of  level 
ground,  at  the  top  of  which  there  is  now  a  house.  Some  of 
the  early  pioneers  encamped  on  this  knoll ;  and  but  a  short 
distance  from  it  a  fort  was  erected  by  Philip  Phillips,  an  emi- 
grant from  Pennsylvania,  about  1780  or  1781,  near  the  time 
Mr.  Lincoln's  ancestor  arrived  from  Virginia.  John  LaRue 
came  from  the  latter  State,  with  a  company  of  emigrants,  and 
settled,  not  far  from  the  same  date,  at  Phillips'  Fort.  Robert 
Hodgen,  LaRue's  brother-in-law,  purchased  and  occupied  the 
land  on  which  Hodgenville  is  built.  Both  these  pioneers  were 
men  of  sterling  integrity,  and  high  moral  worth.  They  were 
consistent  and  zealous  members  of  the  Baptist  church,  and  one 
of  their  associates,  Benjamin  Lynn,  was  a  minister  of  the  same 
persuasion.  Such  were  the  influences  under  which,  more  than 
twenty  years  before  Thomas  Lincoln  settled  there,  this  little 
colony  had  been  founded,  and  which  went  far  to  give  the  com- 
munity its  permanent  character. 

It  is  needless  to  rehearse  the  kind  of  life  in  which  Abra- 
ham Lincoln  was  here  trained.  The  picture  is  similar  in  all 
such  settlements.  In  his  case,  there  was  indeed  the  advantage 
2 


18  LIFE  OP  ABRAHAM    LINCOLN. 

of  a  generation  or  two  of  progress,  since  his  grandfather  had 
hazarded  and  lost  his  life  in  the  then  slightly  broken  wilder- 
ness. The  State  now  numbered  some  400,000  inhabitants,  and 
had  all  the  benefits  of  an  efficient  local  administration,  the 
want  of  which  had  greatly  increased  the  dangers  and  difficul- 
ties of  the  first  settlers.  Henry  Clay,  it  may  here  be  appropri- 
ately mentioned,  had  already,  though  little  more  than  thirty 
years  of  age,  begun  his  brilliant  political  career,  having  then 
served  for  a  year  or  two  in  the  United  States  Senate. 

Yet,  with  all  these  changes,  the  humble  laborers,  settled 
near  "  Hpdgen's  Mills,"  on  Nolin  creek,  had  no  other  lot  but 
incessant  toil,  and  a  constant  struggle  with  nature  in  the  still 
imperfectly  reclaimed  wilds,  for  a  plain  subsistence.  Here  the 
boy  spent  the  first  years  of  his  childhood.  With  apparently 
the  same  frowning  fortune  which  darkened  the  early  days  of 
Robert  Burns,  it  was  not  destined  that  young  Lincoln's  father 
should  succeed  in  these  first  endeavors  to  secure  a  competency. 
Even  before  the  date  of  his  earliest  distinct  recollections,  he 
removed  with  his  father  to  a  place  six  miles  distant  from  Hod- 
genville,  which  was  also  ere  long  to  be  surrendered,  as  we 
shall  presently  see,  for  a  home  in  the  far-off  wilderness,  and 
for  frontier  life,  in  its  fullest  and  most  significant  meaning. 

The  period  of  ABRAHAM  LINCOLN'S  Kentucky  life  extends 
through  a  little  more  than  seven  years,  terminating  with  the 
autumn  of  1816.  If  it  be  true  as  a  rule  (as  Horace  Mann  was 
wont  to  maintain),  that  the  experiences  and  instructions  of  the 
first  seven  years  of  every  person's  existence,  do  more  to  mold 
and  determine  his  general  character,  than  all  subsequent  train- 
ing, then  must  we  regard  Mr.  Lincoln  as  a  Kentuckian  (of  the 
generation  next  following  that  of  Clay),  by  his  early  impres- 
sions and  discipline,  no  less  than  by  birth. 

In  those  days  there  were  no  common  schools  in  that  country. 
The  principal  reliance  for  acquiring  the  rudiments  of  learning 
was  the  same  as  that  to  which  the  peasant-poet  of  Ayrshire 
was  indebted.  Education  was  by  no  means  disregarded,  not 
did  young  Lincoln,  poor  as  were  his  opportunities,  grow  up  an 
illiterate  boy,  as  some  have  supposed.  Competent  teachers 
ffere  accustomed  to  offer  themselves  then,  as  in  later  years, 


LITE  OF  ABRAHAM   LINCOLN.  19 

who  opened  private  schools  for  a  neighborhood,  being  sup- 
ported by  tuition  or  subscription.  During  his  boyhood  days 
in  Kentucky,  Abraham  Lincoln  attended,  at  different  times,  at 
least  two  schools  of  this  description,  of  which  he  has  clear 
recollections.  One  of  these  was  kept  by  Zachariah  Biney,  a 
Roman  Catholic,  whose  peculiarities  have  not  been  wholly 
effaced  from  the  memory  of  his  since  so  distinguished  pupil. 
But  although  this  teacher  was  himself  an  ardent  Catholic,  he 
made  no  proselyting  efforts  in  his  school,  and  when  any  little 
religious  ceremonies,  or  perhaps  mere  catechizing  and  the  like, 
were  to  be  gone  through  with,  all  Protestant  children,  of  whom, 
it  is  needless  to  say  that  young  "Abe"  was  one,  were  accus- 
tomed to  retire,  by  permission  or  command.  Einey  was  prob- 
ably in  some  way  connected  with  the  movement  of  the 
"  Trappists,"  who  came  to  Kentucky  in  the  autumn  of  1805, 
and  founded  an  establishment  (abandoned  some  years  later) 
under  Urban  Guillet,  as  superior,  on  Pottinger's  Creek.  They 
were  active  in  promoting  education,  especially  among  the 
poorer  classes,  and  had  a  school  for  boys  under  their  immediate 
supervision.  This,  however,  had  been  abandoned  before  the 
date  of  Lincoln's  first  school-days,  and  it  is  not  improbable 
that  the  private  schools  under  Catholic  teachers  were  an  offshoot 
of  the  original  system  adopted  by  these  Trappists,  who  sub- 
sequently removed  to  Illinois. 

Another  teacher,  on  whose  instructions  the  boy  afterward 
attended,  while  living  in  Kentucky,  was  named  Caleb  Hazel. 
His  was  also  a  neighborhood  school,  sustained  by  private 
patronage. 

With  the  aid  of  these  two  schools,  and  with  such  further 
assistance  as  he  received  at  home,  there  is  no  doubt  that  he 
had  become  able  to  read  well,  though  without  having  made 
any  great  literary  progress,  at  the  age  of  seven.  That  he  was 
not  a  dull  or  inapt  scholar,  is  manifest  from  his  subsequent 
attainments.  With  the  allurements  of  the  rifle  and  the  wild 
game  which  then  abounded  in  the  country,  however,  and  with 
the  meager  advantages  he  had,  in  regard  to  books,  it  is  certain 
that  his  perceptive  faculties,  and  his  muscular  powers,  were 


20  LIFE   OP   ABRAHAM   LINCOLN. 

much  more  fully  developed  by  exercise  than  his  scholastic 
talents. 

While  he  lived  in  Kentucky,  he  never  saw  even  the  exterior 
of  what  was  properly  a  church  edifice.  The  religious  services 
he  attended  were  held  either  at  a  private  dwelling,  or  in  some 
log  school-house,  or  in  the  open  grove : 

"  Fit  shrine  for  humble  worshiper  to  hold          ^ 
Communion  with  his  Maker.    These  dim  vaults, 
These  winding  aisles,  of  human  pomp  or  pride 
Report  not.    No  fantastic  carvings  show 
The  boast  of  our  vain  race,  to  change  the  form 
Of  Thy  fair  works.    But  Thou  art  here,  Thou  fill'st 
The  solitude."  f 

Unsatisfactory  results  of  these  many  years'  toil  on  the  lands 
of  Nolin  Creek,  or  a  restless  spirit  of  adventure  and  fondness 
for  more  genuine  pioneer  excitements  than  this  region  con- 
tinued to  afford,  led  Thomas  Lincoln,  now  verging  upon  the 
age  of  forty,  and  his  son  beginning  to  be  of  essential  service 
in  manual  labor,  to  seek  a  new  place  of  abode,  far  to  the  west, 
beyond  the  Ohio  river. 

tBrjant. 


LIFE  OF  ABRAHAM    LINCOLN.  21 


CHAPTER  II. 

MB.  LINCOLN'S  EARLY  LIFE  IN  INDIANA. 

fhe  Removal  from  Kentucky.— An  Emigrant  Journey. — The  Forests 
of  Southern  Indiana. — New  Home  of  the  Lincoln  Family. — Indiana 
in  1816.— Slavery  and  Free  Labor.— Young  Lincoln  at  His  Work. — 
His  Schools  and  Schoolmasters. — Self-Education.— A  Characteristic 
Incident. — Acquaintance  with  River  Life. — His  First  Trip  to  New 
Orleans  as  a  Flatboatman.— Death  of-  His  Mother. — His  Fathers 
Second  Marriage. — Recollections  of  an  Early  Settler. — Close  of  an 
Eventful  Period  in  Young  Lincoln's  History. 

EARLY  in  the  autumn  of  1816,  an  immediate  departure  for 
the  new  wilds  of  Indiana  was  determined  on  by  Thomas  Lin- 
coln. It  was  no  very  imposing  sight,  certainly,  as  the  little 
family,  bidding  the  old  Kentucky  home  adieu,  moved  forward 
upon  their  long  and  winding  pioneer  march.  Many  sad 
thoughts  there  undoubtedly  were  in  that  small  group,  and 
perhaps  some  forebodings  also,  as  their  former  place,  gradually 
receding,  at  length  disappeared  from  their  reverted  eyes.  But 
these  emotions  must  soon  have  been  lost  in  the  excitements  of 
their  journey. 

It  was  no  novel  picture  which  they  presented,  for  that  period, 
as  they  advanced  on  their  lonely  way,  for  the  days  required 
to  bring  them  to  the  place  whence  they  were  to  cross  the 
"  Beautiful  River."  The  plain  wagon,  with  its  simple  cover- 
ing as  a  shelter  for  its  lading  of  household  utensils,  articles  of 
food,  and  "  varieties,"  was  drawn  by  a  not  too  spirited  or  over- 
fed horse,  in  a  harness  probably  compounded  of  leather  and 
hempen  cords  of  an  uncertain  age.  In  the  forward  part  of  this 
conveyance,  sat  the  emigrant  wife  and  her  daughter,  nine  years 
old,  while  the  father  and  his  son,  now  past  seven,  walking  in 
the  rear,  took  care  that  the  indispensable  cow  kept  pace  to  the 


22  LIFE   OP   ABRAHAM    LINCOLN. 

music  of  the  jolting  wheels.  Underneath  the  wagon,  or  scout- 
ing at  pleasure  through  the  surrounding  woods,  was  of  course  a 
large  dog,  constant  to  the  fortunes  of  his  master's  family,  and 
ready  for  any  fate  to  which  their  migrations  might  lead  him. 
Arrived  at  the  appointed  landing  on  the  hanks  of  the  Ohio,  it 
only  remained  to  embark  the  little  caravan  upon  a  flathoat,  and 
to  cross  the  stream,  now  swelled  to  fair  proportions  by  the  autumn 
rains.  Finally,  after  reaching  the  Indiana  side,  the  adven- 
turers landed  at  or  near  the  mouth  of  Anderson's  Creek,  now 
the  boundary  between  the  counties  of  Perry  and  Spencer,  about 
one  hundred  and  forty  miles  below  Louisville,  by  the  river, 
and  sixty  above  Evansville.  In  a  direct  line  across  the  country 
from  their  former  residence,  the  distance  is  perhaps  hardly  one 
hundred  miles. 

The  place  at  which  Mr.  Lincoln  settled,  at  the  end  of  this 
journey,  is  some  distance  back  from  the  Ohio  river,  near  the 
present  town  of  Gentryville.  Under  the  earliest  organization, 
this  was  in  Perry  county,  of  which  Troy  was  the  county  seat. 
Two  years  later,  Spencer  county  was  formed,  embracing  all 
that  part  of  Perry  west  of  Anderson's  Creek,  and  including  the 
place  at  which  Mr.  Lincoln  had  located  himself. 

Here  his  emigrant  wagon  paused,  and  aided  by  the  busy 
hands  of  his  son,  a  log  cabin  was  speedily  built,  which  was  to 
be  their  home  through  many  coming  years.  The  particular  site 
of  his  dwelling  was  doubtless  determined,  as  usual,  by  the  dis- 
covery of  a  living  spring  of  water,  after  fixing  on  his  selection 
for  a  farm.  This  completed,  and  a  shelter  provided  for  their 
stock,  the  next  business  was  to  clear  up  a  space  in  the  forest 
which  should  produce  a  crop  of  grain  for  their  sustenance  the 
next  season.  Hard  work  had  begun  in  good  earnest  for  the 
young  Kentuckian.  He  was  to  learn  the  realities  of  genuine 
pioneer  life,  such  as  he  had  before  but  imperfectly  understood, 
unless  by  tradition  and  the  evening  tales  of  his  father. 

Indiana,  at  this  date,  was  still  a  Territory,  having  been 
originally  united  under  the  same  government  with  Illinois, 
after  the  admission  of  Ohio  as  a  State,  "  the  first-born  of  the 
great  North-west,"  in  1802.  A  separate  territorial  organization 
was  made  for  each  in  1809.  A  few  months  before  the  arrival 


LIFE   OP   ABRAHAM    LINCOLN.  23 

of  Thomas  Lincoln,  namely,  in  June,  1816,  pursuant  to  a  Con- 
gressional "  enabling  act,J>  a  Convention  had  been  held  which 
adopted  a  State  Constitution,  preparatory  to  admission  into  the 
Union.  Under  this  Constitution,  a  month  or  two  later,  in 
December,  1816,  Indiana  became,  by  act  of  Congress,  a  sove- 
reign State. 

The  population  of  Indiana  was  now  about  65, 000,  distributed 
chiefly  south  of  a  straight  line  drawn  from  Vincennes,  on  the 
Wabash,  to  Lawrenceburg,  on  the  Ohio.  Vincennes  was  long 
the  territorial  capital,  and  with  the  surrounding  country,  had 
been  occupied  by  French  emigrants,  many  years  before  the 
Kevolution.  In  1800,  the  whole  number  of  residents  in  these 
colonies  was  less  than  5,000.  These,  like  other  French  set- 
tlements, made  little  progress  of  themselves.  From  1800  to 
1810  there  had  been  a  large  increase,  mostly  by  emigrations  to 
Southern  Indiana  from  Kentucky,  swelling  the  population  to 
24,520,  at  the  latter  date.  In  1811  had  occurred  serious  diffi- 
culties with  the  Indians,  terminating  in  the  decisive  victory 
over  them  at  Tippecanoe.  So  general  had  become  the  settle- 
ments, eastward  from  Vincennes  and  up  the  Ohio  river,  that 
the  capital  was  removed  far  eastward  to  Corydon,  in  1813,  as  a 
central  location.  This  place,  the  capital  of  Harrison  county, 
is  about  twenty-five  miles  west  from  Louisville,  and  more  than 
a  hundred  south  of  the  present  metropolis  of  the  State.  But 
one  county  intervened  between  Harrison  and  Perry,  and  Gen- 
tryville  is  hardly  forty  miles,  in  a  direct  line,  from  Corydon. 
This  place  continued  to  be  the  seat  of  government  for  the  State- 
until  1824,  as  it  had  been  for  the  Territory  during  the  three 
years  next  preceding  1816.  It  was  but  natural,  therefore,  that 
emigration  should  be  prominently  directed  to  this  part  of  the 
State,  at  the  period  under  consideration.  In  1820  the  popula- 
tion had  increased  to  over  147,000,  or  more  than  six -fold  dur- 
ing ten  years,  and  nearly  thirty-fold  since  1800. 

There  is  little  doubt  that  in  emigrating,  Thomas  Lincoln  had 
fallen  in  with  a  prevalent  contagion  in  his  own  State,  and  that 
he  took  up  his  residence  in  the  part  of  Indiana  then  deemed 
most  desirable  of  all  that  was  unoccupied.  It  is  common  to 
attribute  these  extensive  migrations  from  the  border  slave- 


24  LIFE   OF   ABRAHAM    LINCOLN. 

holding  States  into  the  non-slaveholding  Northwest,  to  a  pre- 
ference for  institutions  based  upon  free  labor  to  the  exclusion 
of  slavery.  This  was,  beyond  question,  a  powerful  inducement 
with  many,  yet  by  no  means  the  exclusive  one;  and  with  some 
it  did  not  exist  at  all.  In  the  earlier  days  of  Kentucky,  the 
proportion  of  slaves  to  the  free  white  population  was  small, 
and  in  many  places  slavery  can  hardly  have  been  an  appreciable 
element.  But  in  1816,  the  number  of  slaves  must  have  ex- 
ceeded 100,000,  and  their  ratio  of  increase  was  becoming  very 
high.  Upon  a  man  in  the  circumstances  of  Mr.  Lincoln,  with 
a  young  family  to  rear,  this  consideration  undoubtedly  had  its 
weight,  among  the  others  we  have  suggested  as  the  cause  of  his 
removal  to  Indiana.  We  have  at  least  the  fact,  that,  though 
painfully,  and  with  an  exile's  sadness,  he  turned  his  back  for- 
ever on  a  State  that  tolerated  slavery,  to  seek  a  new  home 
where  free  labor  had  been  sacredly  assured  exclusive  rights  and 
honors. 

The  next  thirteen  years  Abraham  Lincoln  spent  here,  in 
Southern  Indiana,  near  the  Ohio,  nearly  midway  between 
Louisville  and  Evansville.  He  was  now  old  enough  to  begin 
to  take  an  active  part  in  the  farm  labors  of  his  father,  and  he 
manfully  performed  his  share  of  hard  work.  He  learned  to 
use  the  axe  and  to  hold  the  plough.  He  became  inured  to  all 
the  duties  of  seed-time  and  harvest.  On  many  a  day,  during 
every  one  of  those  thirteen  years,  this  Kentucky  boy  might 
have  been  seen  with  a  long  "  gad  "  in  his  hand,  driving  his 
father's  team  in  the  field,  or  from  the  woods  with  a  heavy 
draught,  or  on  the  rough  path  to  the  mill,  the  store,  or  the  river 
landing — very  probably  at  times,  in  the  language  of  the  Hoosier 
bard,  descriptive  of  such  pioneer  workers  in  general : 

*'    '       sans  shoes  or  socks  on, 

With  snake-pole  and  a  yoke  of  oxen." 

A  vigorous  constitution,  and  a  cheerful,  unrepining  disposi- 
tion, made  all  his  labors  comparatively  light.  'To  such  a  one, 
this  sort  of  life  has  in  it  much  of  pleasant  excitement  to  com- 
pensate for  its  hardships.  He  learned  to  derive  enjoyment 
from  the  severest  lot.  The  "  dignity  of  labor,"  which  is  with 


LIFE   OP  ABRAHAM    LINCOLN.  25 

demagogues  such  hollow  cant,  became  to  him  a  true  and 
appreciable  reality. 

Here,  as  in  Kentucky,  he  attended  private  schools,  and  in 
other  ways  increased  his  little  stock  of  learning,  aided  by  what 
he  had  already  acquired.  The  same  want  of  systematic  public 
instruction,  and  the  same  mode  of  remedying  this  lack,  pre- 
vailed in  Indiana,  as  in  his  former  home.  One  of  his  teachers 
was  named  Andrew  Crawford,  to  whom  he  used  to  be  occasion- 
ally indebted  for  the  loan  of  books,  to  read  at  such  leisure 
hours  as  he  could  command.  His  last  teacher  was  a  Mr. 
Dorsey,  who  has  had  the  satisfaction,  in  later  years,  of  taking 
his  former  scholar  by  the  hand,  rejoicing  to  recognize  the  once 
obscure  boy  as  now  one  of  the  foremost  leaders  of  the  people. 
Dorsey  was  lately  residing  in  Schuyler  county,  Illinois,  where 
he  also  had  sons  living. 

.  That  we  may  estimate  Mr.  Lincoln  in  his  true  character,  as 
chiefly  a  self-educated  man,  it  should  be  stated  that,  summing 
up  all  the  days  of  his  actual  attendance  upon  school  instruc- 
tion, the  amount  would  hardly  exceed  one  year.  The  rest  he 
has  accomplished  for  himself  in  his  own  way.  As  a  youth  ho 
read  with  avidity  such  instructive  works  as  he  could  obtain, 
and  in  winter  evenings,  by  the  mere  light  of-  the  blazing  fire- 
place, when  no  better  resource  was  at  hand. 

An  incident  having  its  appropriate  connection  here,  and 
illustrating  several  traits  of  the  man,  as  already  developed  in 
early  boyhood,  is  vouched  for  by  a  citizen  of  Evansville,  who 
knew  him  in  the  days  referred  to.  In  his  eagerness  to  acquire 
knowledge,  young  Lincoln  had  borrowed  of  Mr.  Crawford  a 
copy  of  Weems'  Life  of  Washington — the  only  one  known  to 
be  in  existence  in  the  neighborhood.  Before  he  had  finished 
reading  the  book,  it  had  been  left,  by  a  not  unnatural  oversight, 
in  a  window.  Meantime,  a  rain  storm  came  on,  and  the  book 
was  so  thoroughly  wet  as  to  make  it  nearly  worthless.  This 
mishap  caused  him  much  pain ;  but  he  went,  in  all  honesty,  to 
Crawford  with  the  ruined  book,  explained  the  calamity  that 
had  happened  through  his  neglect,  and  offered,  not  having 
sufficient  money,  to  "  work  out "  the  value  of  the  book. 

"  Well,  Abe,"  said  Crawford,  "  as  it's  you  I  won't  be  hard  on 

:\ 


26  LIFE    OP   ABRAHAM     LINCOLN. 

you.     Come  over  and  pull  fodder  for  me  for  two  days,  and  we 
will  call  our  accounts  even." 

The  offer  was  accepted  and  the  engagement  literally  ful- 
filled. As  a  boy,  no  less  than  since,  Abraham  Lincoln  had 
an  honorable  conscientiousness,  integrity,  industry,  and  an 
ardent  love  of  knowledge. 

The  town  on  the  Ohio  river  nearest  his  home  was  Troy,  the 
capital  of  Perry  county  down  to  the  date  of  its  division. 
This  place,  at  the  mouth  of  Anderson's  Creek,  had  been 
settled  as  early  as  1811,  and  was  a  place  of  some  consequence, 
both  for  its  river  trade  and  as  the  county  seat.  After  this 
latter  advantage  was  lost,  by  the  formation  of  a  new  county 
in  1818,  Troy  dwindled  away,  and  is  now  a  place  of  only 
about  five  hundred  inhabitants.  Rockport,  nearly  twenty 
miles  south-west  of  Gentryville,  became  the  capital  of  Spencer 
county,  and  thenceforward  a  point  of  interest  to  the  new  • 
settlers.  It  is  situated  on  a  high  bluff  of  the  Ohio  river,  and 
receives  its  name  from  "Lady  Washington's  Rock,"  a  pictur- 
esque hanging-rock  at  that  place.  At  these  two  points,  young 
Lincoln  gained  some  knowledge  of  the  new  world  of  river 
life  and  business,  in  addition  to  his  farm  experience,  and  to 
his  forest  sports  with  rod  and  rifle. 

It  was  during  one  of  the  later  of  these  thirteen  years,  that 
Abraham,  at  nineteen,  was  permitted  to  gratify  his  eager  long- 
ing to  see  more  of  the  world,  and  to  try  the  charms  of  an  excur- 
sion on  the  Beautiful  River.  He  had  inherited  much  of  the 
adventurous  and  stirring  disposition  of  his  Virginian  grand- 
father, and  was  delighted  with  the  prospect  of  a  visit  to  New 
Orleans,  then  the  splendid  city  of  Western  dreams.  He  per- 
formed this  journey,  on  a  common  flat-boat,  doing  service  as  one 
of  the  hands  on  that  long  yet  most  exhilarating  trip.  We  have 
no  particulars  of  this  his  sole  excursion  as  a  FLATBOATMAN  dur- 
ing his  Indiana  days,  yet  to  his  own  mind  it  probably  still 
affords  many  not  unpleasing  recollections.  He  was  undoubt- 
edly the  life  of  the  little  company,  delighting  them  with  his 
humorous  sallies  no  less  than  with  his  muscular  superiority 
and  with  his  hilarious  activity  and  intuitive  tact  in  all  that 
immediately  concerned  their  voyage. 


LIFE   OF   ABRAHAM   LINCOLN.  27 

If  there  had  been  any  forebodings  at  the  time  of  departure 
from  their  first  home  on  Nolin  Creek,  these  were  to  be  ere- 
long realized  by  the  Indiana  emigrants.  Scarcely  two  years 
had  passed,  in  this  changed  climate,  and  in  these  rougher 
forest  experiences,  before  the  mother  of  young  Abraham — 
perhaps  too  gentle  to  encounter  the  new  trials  added  to  those 
she  had  before  partially  surmounted,  and  to  endure  the 
malarious  influences  in  which  this  wild  country  abounded — 
was  called  to  a  last  separation  from  those  she  had  so  tenderly 
loved.  She  died  in  1818,  leaving  as  her  sole  surviving  chil- 
dren, a  daughter  less  than  twelve  years  old,  and  a  son  two 
years  younger,  of  whose  future  distinction,  even  with  a 
mother's  fondness,  she  probably  had  but  an  indefinite  hope. 
A  grave  was  made  for  her — 

"  Where  the  wind  of  the  West  breathes  its  softest  sigh ; 
Where  the  silvery  stream  is  flowing  nigh— 
Where  the  sun's  warm  smile  may  never  dispel 
Night's  tears  o'er  the  form  that  was  loved  so  well — 
Where  no  column  proud  in  the  sun  may  glow, 
To  mock  the  heart  that  is  resting  below." 

A  year  or  two  later,  Thomas  Lincoln  contracted  a  second 
marriage  with  Mrs.  Johnston,  a  widow  with  three  children, 
that  were  brought  up  with  those  of  Mr.  Lincoln.  Besides 
these  step-children,  there  were  no  additions  to  the  family  as 
before  enumerated. 

In  concluding  this  brief  account  of  the  thirteen  important 
years  which  were  spent  by  Abraham  Lincoln  as  an  Indianian, 
the  personal  recollections  of  a  distinguished  lawyer  and  states- 
man of  an  older  generation,  who  emigrated  to  Indiana  at 
nearly  the  same  date,  will  aid  in  conveying  a  correct  impres- 
sion of  these  times,  and  of  the  circumstances  with  which  the 
youth  was  surrounded. 

Indiana,  says  the  late  Hon.  0.  H.  Smith,*  "  was  born  in  the 
year  1816,  with  some  sixty-five  thousand  inhabitants — only 
about  forty  years  ago.  A  few  counties  only  were  then  organ- 

*  Early  Indiana  Trials  and  Sketches  Eeminiscences,  by  Hon.  0.  H. 
Smith,  page  285. 


28  LIFE   OF   ABRAHAM    LINCOLN. 

ized.  The  whole  middle,  north,  and  north-west  portions  of 
the  State  were  an  unbroken  wilderness,  in  the  possession  of 
the  Indians.  Well  do  I  remember  when  there  were  but  two 
families  settled  west  of  the  Whitewater  Valley — one  at  Flat 
Bock,  above  where  Rushville  now  stands,  and  the  other  on 
Brandywine,  near  where  Greenfield  was  afterward  located. 
When  I  first  visited  the  ground  on  which  Indiajiapolis  now 
stands,  the  whole  country,  east  to  Whitewater  and  west  to 
the  Wabash,  was  a  dense,  unbroken  forest.  There  were  no 
public  roads,  no  bridges  over  any  of  the  streams.  The  trav- 
eler had  literally  to  swim  his  way.  No  cultivated  farms,  no 
houses  to  shelter  or  feed  the  weary  traveler,  or  his  jaded  horse. 
The  courts,  years  afterward,  were  held  in  leg  huts,  and  the 
juries  sat  under  the  shade  of  the  forest  trees.  I  was  Circuit 
Prosecuting  Attorney  at  the  time  of  the  trials  at  the  falls  of 
Fall  Creek,  where  Pendleton  now  stands.  Four  of  the  pris- 
oners were  convicted  of  murder,  and  three  of  them  hung,  for 
killing  Indians.  The  court  was  held  in  a  double  log  cabin, 
the  grand  jury  sat  upon  a  log  in  the  woods,  and  the  foreman 
signed  the  bills  of  indictment  which  I  had  prepared,  upon  his 
knee  ;  there  was  not  a  petit  juror  that  had  shoes  on — all  wore 
moccasins,  and  were  belted  around  the  waist,  and  carried  side 
knives  used  by  the  hunter.  The  products  of  the  country  con- 
sisted of  peltries,  the  wild  game  killed  in  the  forest  by  the 
Indian  hunters,  the  fish  caught  in  the  interior  lakes,  rivers, 
and  creeks,  the  pawpaw,  wild  plum,  haws,  small  berries  gath- 
ered by  the  squaws  in  the  woods.  The  travel  was  confined  to 
the  single  horse  and  his  rider,  the  commerce  to  the  pack -sad- 
dle, and  the  navigation  to  the  Indian  canoe.  Many  a  time 
and  oft  have  I  crossed  our  swollen  streams,  by  day  and  by 
night,  •  sometimes  swimming  my  horse,  and  at  others  pad- 
dling the  rude  bark  canoe  of  the  Indian.  Such  is  a  mere 
sketch  of  our  State  when  I  traversed  its  wilds,  and  I  am  not 
one  of  its  first  settlers." 

Thus  it  was  that  young  Lincoln  grew  up  to  the  verge  of 
manhood ;  he  led  no  idle  or  enervating  existence.  Brought 
up  to  the  habits  of  sobriety,  and  accustomed  to  steady  labor, 
no  one  of  all  the  working-men  with  whom  he  came  in  contact 


LIFE  OP  ABRAHAM  LINCOLN.  29 

was  a  better  sample  of  his  class  than  he.  He  had  now  become 
a  Saul  among  his  associates,  having  reached  the  hight  of 
nearly  six  feet  and  four  inches,  and  with  a  comparatively 
slender  yet  uncommonly  strong,  muscular  frame.  He  was 
even  then,  in  his  mental  and  moral  characteristics,  no  less 
than  in  his  physical  proportions,  one  not  to  be  forgotten  or- 
unappreciated  by  those  who  knew  him.  Many  reminiscences 
of  those  days  of  his  hardy  endeavor  and  rough  experience 
linger  in  the  minds  of  the  plain,  earnest  people  among 
whom  his  lot  for  a  long  period  was  thus  cast,  and  will  some 
time  be  repeated,  with  such  exaggerations  or  fabulous  glosses 
as  are  wont  gradually  to  gather,  like  the  sacred  halo  of  the 
painters,  around  the  memorials  of  a  recognized  hero.  And 
a  hero,  ever  hereafter,  in  the  traditions  of  Southern  Indiana, 
will  be  the  youthful  Abraham  Lincoln,  gigantic  and  stalwart 
in  his  outward  form,  no  less  than  in  the  glowing  and  noble 
spirit  already  beginning  to  foresee  and  prepare  for  a  high  des- 
tiny. Wherever  he  has  dwelt  becomes  classic  and  consecrated 
ground,  and  to  have  known  him,  even  in  his  obscurest  days, 
will  be  deemed  a  circumstance  to  be  recounted  with  pride. 
To  gather  up  such  recollections  and  to  perpetuate  them  with 
the-  pen,  will  be  the  work  of  future  times  and  other  hands. 

This  period  of  young  Lincoln's  life  was  terminated  by 
another  removal  of  his  father,  as  will  appear  in  the  next 
chapter. 


30  LIFE  OF  ABRAHAM   LINCOLN. 


CHAPTER  III. 

FIRST     TEAKS    IN    ILLINOIS. — 1830-32. 

The  French  Settlements.— The  North-West. — The  Advance  of  Emigra- 
tion.— Four  Great  States  Founded  in  the  Lifetime  of  Mr.  Lincoln's 
Father. — North  and  South  Meeting  in  Ohio,  Indiana  and  Illinois. — 
Sentiments  of  Southern  Emigrants. — The  First  Emigrations.— A 
Coincidence  of  Dates. — Mordecai  and  Josiah  Lincoln.— Kemoval  to 
Illinois. — Settlement  on  the  Sangamon,  in  Macon  County. — The 
Locality  described. — Abraham  Lincoln  Splits  Three  Thousand  Rails. — 
Another  Removal  of  his  Father. — They  Separate. — His  Father  Spends 
the  rest  of  his  Days  in  Coles  County. — Abraham  Lincoln  makes 
Another  Trip  as  a  Flatboatman. — Becomes  Clerk  in  a  Store  on  his  Re- 
turn.— Leaves  the  Business  after  a  Year's  Service. 

THE  early  French  settlements  of  Illinois,  at  Kaskaskia  and 
Cahokia,  had  proved  as  little  successful  or  permanent  as  those 
of  Indiana  around  Vincennes.  The  territory  had  come  into 
the  possession  of  the  British  Government  just  before  the 
Revolution,  and  emigration  from  Virginia  had  commenced 
almost  simultaneously  to  that  quarter  and  to  Kentucky.  In 
1787,  as  is  well  known,  the  settlements  here,  in  common  with 
those  scattered  throughout  the  great  expanse  of  United  States 
territory,  Northwest  of  the  Ohio  river,  were  brought  under  a 
territorial  government,  as  wide  in  its  local  scope  as  it  was 
apparently  insignificant  in  the  extent  of  its  population  and 
power.  Time  speedily  demonstrated  the  error  of  such  an 
estimate  of  the  remarkable  region  between  the  Ohio,  the  Mis- 
sissippi, and  the  Lakes,  yet,  even  to  this  day,  the  people  of  the 
East  accept  the  idea  of  this  greatness  and  coming  power  rather 
as  an  abstract  proposition  than  as  a  living  reality,  deeply 
affecting  their  own  relative  interests  and  the  common  resources 
and  grandeur  of  the  country. 


LIFE   OP   ABRAHAM    LINCOLN.  31 

The  rapid  growth  of  Kentucky  on  the  one  side,  and  of  Ohio 
and  Indiana  on  the  other,  we  have  incidentally  seen  in  these 
pages.  The  birth  of  Mr.  Lincoln's  father,  Thomas  Lincoln,  was 
anterior  to  or  nearly  coeval  with  the  very  first  settlements  in  all 
those  States,  excepting  only  the  lifeless  French  colonies  of  Indi- 
ana. The  State  of  Illinois  may  be  added  to  those  of  which  it 
may  be  said,  in  like  manner,  his  own  life  was  the  measure  of 
their  age,  dating  from  the  first  substantial  and  growing  existence 
of  their  colonial  settlements.  In  Illinois,  as  in  Indiana,  the 
earliest  waves  of  a  healthful  emigration  had  come  from  Ken- 
tucky and  Virginia,  and  in  both  cases  alike,  the  Southern 
portion  was  the  earliest  to  be  occupied.  Between  these  early 
outflowings  of  free  labor  from  the  land  of  slavery,  and  those 
later  ones  from  the  free  States  of  the  East,  on  more  northern 
parallels,  there  is  a  marked  difference,  still  traceable — creating, 
in  a  certain  sense,  in  all  the  States  of  the  Northwest  which 
touch  the  imaginary  line  of  Mason  and  Dixon,  a  division  of 
North  and  South.  Experience  and  increased  commingling 
between  these  localities  are  fast  abating  the  distinctness  of 
this  somewhat  indefinite  separating  line,  but  for  years  to  come 
it  can  not  be  wholly  obliterated.  These  two  elements,  combined 
and  consolidated,  growing  into  unity  instead  of  being  arrayed 
against  each  other  in  widening  separation,  will  go  to  constitute 
the  strongest  of  States.  The  Southern  emigration  gave  char- 
acter to  the  earlier  legislation  of  Indiana  and  Illinois  especially. 
With  evidences  of  a  lurking  attachment  to  the  peculiar  'insti- 
tution of  the  States  on  the  other  side  of  the  Ohio  river,  the 
general  tenor  of  public  sentiment  and  action  was  as  positive 
and  distinct,  as  were  the  opinions  of  the  more  Northern  mul- 
titudes who  came  in  to  fill  up  these  new  commonwealths.  And 
yet  the  views  of  slavery  prevalent  in  southern  Indiana  and 
Illinois,  were  at  that  time'  not  much  diverse  from  those  which 
were  entertained  in  the  communities  from  which  these  settlers 
had  come.  They  regarded  slavery  as  an  evil  to  be  rid  of;  and 
to  make  sure  of  this,  those  who  were  not  already  too  much 
entangled  with  it,  left  in  large  numbers  for  a  region  which,  by 
request  of  Virginia  herself,  the  donor,  was  "  forever  "  protected 
from  the  inroads  of  this  moral  and  social  mischief. 


32  LIFE   OP   ABRAHAM    LINCOLN. 

As  we  have  seen,  Indiana  had  more  than  100,000  people 
concentrated  in  the  south,  before  any  real  advance  had  "been 
made  in  the  central  and  northern  parts.  Nearly  the  same 
thing  was  true  of  Illinois.  The  territory  had  been  separately 
organized  in  the  same  year  with  the  birth  of  Abraham  Lin- 
coln— 1809.  The  next  year's  census  showed  its  entire  white 
population  to  be  only  11,501.  These  were  almost  exclusively 
located  south  of  the  National  Road,  which  crosses  the  Kaskas- 
kia  river  at  Vandalia,  extending  nearly  due  west  to  Alton. 
Notwithstanding  the  severe  labors  of  opening  the  forests  on  the 
rich  western  soil,  and  the  lorfg  period  that  must  necessarily 
elapse  between  the  first  clearing  therein  and  the  perfect  subju- 
gation of  the  selected  lands  into  cultivated  farms,  there  seems 
to  have  been  a  general  avoidance,  even  down  to  comparatively 
a  late  period,  of  the  open  prairie,  which  is  now  thought  to 
offer  such  pre-eminent  facilities  for  cultivation,  with  almost 
immediate  repayment  for  the  toil  bestowed.  The  settlers  who 
had  gone  into  Illinois,  evidently  placed  a  low  estimate  upon 
the  prairie  lands,  and  always  settled  on  the  banks  of  some 
stream,  on  which  there  was  plenty  of  timber,  seeking  the  forest 
by  preference  for  their  homes.  The  open  character  of  the 
country  undoubtedly  repelled  emigration,  and  caused  it  to  be 
concentrated  on  the  chief  streams,  for  a  long  time,  when  at  last 
it  commenced  in  earnest. 

In  1820,  two  years  after  admission  into  the  Union,  the  entire 
population,  still  'almost  entirely  confined  to  the  same  region, 
and  to  similar  localities  as  ten  years  before,  amounted  to  only 
55,211.  From  that  time  to  1830,  there  was  some  extension  of 
the  settlements  northward,  toward  the  center  of  the  State,  and 
up  the  Mississippi  to  Galena,  where  the  mines  were"  already 
worked.  The  rivers  along  which  the  principal  settlements  had 
been  made,  aside  from  the  great  boundary  rivers,  the  Missis- 
sippi, the  Ohio,  and  the  Wabash,  were  the  Kaskaskia,  the  Em- 
barras,  the  Sangamon,  and  their  branches.  There  were  a  few 
settlements,  also,  in  the  Rock-river  country,  and  on  the  range 
of  Peoria.  The  population,  thus  chiefly  distributed,  had  now 
(1830)  reached  157,445. 

The  brothers  of  Thomas  Lincoln,  had  previously  removed 


LIFE   OF  ABRAHAM    LINCOLN.  33 

to  a  more  northern  location  in  Indiana,  than  that  which  he 
had  occupied.  Both  settled  in  the  Blue-river  country — Mor- 
decai  in  Hancock  county,  where  he  not~~long  after  died,  and 
Josiah  in  Harrison  county.  Their  example,  perhaps,  had  its 
influence  upon  Thomas,  who,  however,  took  a  course  of  his 
own.  Whatever  the  immediate  or  remote  occasion,  he  left 
Indiana  in  the  spring  of  1830,  to  seek  another  place  of  abode, 
in  the  State  of  Illinois.  He  had  seen  the  growth  of  Kentucky 
from  almost  the  very  start,  to  a  population  of  nearly  700,000, 
and  he  had  lived  in  Indiana  from  the  time  its  inhabitants 
numbered  only  65,000,  until  .they  had  reached  nearly  350,000. 
As  he  first  set  his  foot  within  the  limits  of  Illinois,  its  vast 
territory  had,  comparatively,  but  just  begun  to  be  occupied , 
scarcely  at  all,  as  we  have  seen,  except  in  the  extreme  southern 
portion,  and  hero-  Imost  exclusively  along  the  principal 
streams.  I*  a  country  so  poorly  supplied  with  wood  and 
water,  as  Illinois,  such  sites  would  naturally  be  the  first  to  be 
taken  up,  and  with  a  prairie  addition,  suited  the  tastes  even  of 
those  to  whom  the  level,  open  country  was  forbidding  in 
appearance. 

Mr.  Lincoln  pushed  forward  to  the  central  part  of  the  State, 
where  such  locations  were  still  abundant.  A  more  beautiful 
country  than  that  of  the  Sangamon  valley,  could  not  easily  have 
been  anywhere  discovered  by  an  explorer.  It  was  not  strange 
that  the  report  of  such  lands,  if  he  heard  it  in  his  Southern 
Indiana  home,  should  have  attracted  even  so  far  one  who  was 
bred  to  pioneer  life,  and  inherited  a  migratory  disposition. 
He  first  settled  on  the  Sangamon  "  bottom,"  in  Macon  county. 

Passing  over  the  Illinois  Central  Railroad,  as  you  approach 
Decatur,  the  county-seat  of  Macon,  from  the  south,  a  slightly 
broken  country  is  reached  two  or  three  miles  from  that  place, 
and  presently  the  North  Fork  of  the  Sangamon,  over  which 
you  pass,  a  mile  from  the  town.  This  stream  flows  westwardly, 
uniting  with  the  South  Fork,  near  Jamestown,  ten  miles  from 
Springfield.  Following  down  this  North  Fork  for  a  distance 
of  about  ten  miles  from  Decatur,  you  come  to  the  immediate 
vicinity  of  the  first  residence  of  Abraham  Lincoln  (with  his 
father's  family),  in  Illinois. 
4 


34  LIFE   OP   ABRAHAM    LINCOLN. 

Here,  for  the  first  season  of  his  abode  in  the  new  State,  he 
continued  to  assist  his  father  in  his  farm-work.  One  of  the 
first  duties  was  to  fence  in  a  field  on  the  rich  bottom-lands, 
which  had  been  selected  for  cultivation.  For  this  purpose, 
with  the  help  of  one  laborer,  Abraham  Lincoln,  at  this  time, 
split  THREE  THOUSAND  RAILS — the  crowning  work  of  a  long 
laborious  period  of  his  life.  The  hand  who  aided  him  in  this 
exploit,  named  John  Hanks,  a  distant  relative  of  his  mother, 
is  yet  living,  and  bears  earnest  testimony  to  the  strength  and 
skill  with  which  the  maul  and  the  wedge  were  employed  on 
this  occasion. 

For  some  unexplained  reason,  the  family  did  not  remain  on 
this  place  but  a  single  year.  Abraham  was  now  of  age,  and 
when,  in  the  spring  of  1831,  his  father  set  out  for  Coles 
county,  sixty  or  seventy  miles  to  the  eastward,  on  the  upper 
waters  of  the  Kaskaskia  and  Embarras,  a  separation  took 
place,  the  son  for  the  first  time  assuming  his  independence, 
and  commencing  life  on  his  own  account.  The  scene  of  these 
labors  he  has  not  since  visited.  His  father  was  soon  after 
comfortably  settled  in  the  place  to  which  he  had  turned  his 
course,  and  spent  the  remainder  of  his  adventurous  days  there, 
arriving  at  a  good  old  age.  He  died  in  Coles  county,  on  the 
17th  day  of  January,  1851,  being  in  his  seventy- third  year. 
The  farm  on  the  Sangamon  subsequently  came  into  the  pos- 
session of  a  man  named  Whitley,  who  also  erected  a  mill  in 
the  vicinity. 

While  there  was  snow  on  the  ground,  at  the  close  of  the 
year  1830,  or  early  in  1831,  a  man  came  to  that  part  of  Macon 
county  where  young  Lincoln  was  living,  in  pursuit  of  hands 
to  aid  him  in  a  flatboat  voyage  down  the  Mississippi.  The 
fact  was  known  that  the  youth  had  once  made  such  a  trip,  and 
his  services  were  sought  for  the  occasion.  As  one  who  had 
his  own  subsistence  to  earn,  with  no  capital  but  his  hands,  and 
with  no  immediate  opportunities  for  commencing  professional 
study,  if  his  thoughts  had  as  yet  been  turned  in  that  direction, 
he  accepted  the  proposition  made  him.  Perhaps  there  was 
something  of  his  inherited  and  acquired  fondness  for  exciting 
adventure,  impelling  him  to  this  decision.  With  him,  were 


LIFE   OF  ABRAHAM    LINCOLN.  35 

also  employed,  his  former  fellow-laborer,  John  Hanks,  and  a 
son  of  his  step-mother,  named  John  Johnston.  In  the  spring 
of  1831,  Lincoln  set  out  to  fulfill  his  engagement.  The  floods 
had  so  swollen  the  streams  that  the  Sangamon  country  was  a 
vast  sea  before  him.  His  first  entrance  into  that  county  was 
over  these  wide-spread  waters,  in  a  canoe.  The  time  had 
come  to  join  his  employer  on  his  journey  to  New-Orleans,  but 
the  latter  had  been  disappointed  by  another  person  on  whom 
he  relied  to  furnish  him  a  boat,  on  the  Illinois  river.  Accord- 
ingly, all  hands  set  to  work  and  themselves  built  a  boat,  on  that 
river,  for  their  purposes.  This  done,  they  set  out  on  their 
long  trip,  making  a  successful  voyage  to  New  Orleans  and 
back.  It  is  reported  by  his  friends,  that  Mr.  Lincoln  refers 
with  much  pleasant  humor  to  this  early  experience,  so  relating 
some  of  its  incidents  as  to  afford  abundant  amusement  to  his 
auditors.  In  truth,  he  was  a  youth  who  could  adapt  himself 
to  this  or  any  other  honest  work,  which  his  circumstances 
required  of  him,  and  with  a  cheerfulness  and  alacrity — a  cer- 
tain practical  humor — rarely  equaled.  He  could  turn  off  the 
hardest  labor  as  a  mere  pastime ;  and  his  manly  presence,  to 
other  laborers,  was  as  a  constant  inspiration  and  a  charm  to 
lighten  their  burdens. 

It  was  midsummer  when  the  FLATBOATMAN  returned  from 
this  his  second  and  last  trip,  in  that  capacity.  The  man 
who  had  commanded  this  little  expedition  now  undertook  to 
establish  himself  in  business  at  New  Salem,  twenty  miles 
below  Springfield,  in  Menard  county — a  place  of  more  relative 
consequence  then  than  now — two  miles  from  Petersburg,  the 
county  seat.  He  had  found  young  Lincoln  a  person  of  such 
sort  that  he  was  anxious  to  secure  his  services  in  the  new 
enterprise  he  was  about  to  embark  in.  He  opened  a  store  at 
New  Salem,  and  also  had  a  mill  for  flouring  grain.  For  want 
of  other  immediate  employment,  and  in  the  same  spirit  which 
had  heretofore  actuated  him,  Abraham  Lincoln  now  entered 
upon  the  duties  of  a  clerk,  having  an  eye  to  both  branches  of 
the  business  carried  on  by  his  employer.  This  connection 
continued  for  nearly  a  year,  all  the  duties  of  his  position  being 
faithfully  and  cheerfully  performed. 


36  LIFE  OP  ABRAHAM    LINCOLN. 

It  was  to  this  year's  humble  but  honorable  service — one 
that  would  have  been  ennobled  by  his  alacrity  in  discharging 
it,  as  a  necessity  of  his  lot,  were  the  employment  far  less  dig- 
nified than  it  really  was  —  that  Mr.  Douglas  tauntingly 
alluded,  in  one  of  his  speeches  during  the  canvass  of  1858,  as 
"  keeping  a  grocery."  In  his  reply,  Mr.  Lincoln  declared  his 
adversary  to  be  "  wofully  at  fault "  as  to  the  fact,  in  alleging 
him  to  have  been  a  grocery-keeper,  though  it  might  be  no 
great  sin  had  the  statement  been  well  founded.  He  added 
that,  in  truth,  he  had  "  never  kept  a  grocery  anywhere  in  the 
world." 

The  business  of  this  country  merchant  at  New  Salem  did 
not  prove  remarkably  successful.  In  any  event,  the  employ- 
ment was  not  such  as  could  have  permanently  suited  an  active, 
muscular  person,  like  young  Lincoln,  with  a  lurking  passion 
for  adventure,  and  for  more  exciting  scenes.  His  clerkship 
days,  however,  were  brought  to  an  abrupt  close,  probably  much 
sooner  than  they  otherwise  would  have  been,  by  the  breaking 
out  of  the  Black-Hawk  war,  in  which  he  was  eager  to  bear  an 
honorable  part. 


LIFE   OP   ABRAHAM   LINCOLN.         •  37 


CHAPTER  IV. 

SERVICE   IN  THE   BLACK-HAWK  WAR — 1832. 

Breaking  Out  of  the  Black-Hawk  War.— The  Invasion  of  1831.— The 
Rock-river  Country  Threatened. — Prompt  Action  of  GOT.  Reynolds. 
—Retreat  of  Black  Hawk.  — Treaty  of  1804  Re-affirmed.  —  Bad 
Faith  of  the  Indians.— Invasion  of  1832. — Volunteers  Called  For.— 
Abraham  Lincoln  one  of  a  Company  from  Menard  County. — He  is 
chosen  Captain. — Rendezvous  at  Beardstown. — Hard  Marches  across 
the  Country  to  Oquawka,  Prophetstown,  and  Dixon. — Expected  Battle 
Avoided  by  the  Enemy. — Discontent  among  Volunteers. — They  are 
Disbanded. — Captain  Lincoln  Remains,  Volunteering  for  Another 
Term  of  Service. — Skirmishing  Fights. — Arrival  of  New  Levies. — 
Encounter  at  Kellogg's  Grove. — Black-Hawk  at  the  Four  Lakes. — Ho 
Retreats. — Battle  on  the  Wisconsin. — Hastens  Forward  to  the  Missis- 
sippi.— Battle  of  the  Bad-Ax. — End  of  Lincoln's  First  Campaign. — 
Autobiographic  Note. 

WHILE  Abraham  Lincoln  was  quietly  performing  his  duties 
in  the  pioneer  "  store,"  in  Menard  county,  reports  were  re- 
ceived of  an  alarming  Indian  invasion,  on  the  western  border 
of  the  State.  In  the  spring  of  1831,  while  he  was  employed 
in  his  excursion  down  the  Mississippi,  the  noted  Black-Hawk, 
an  old  chief  of  the  Sac  tribe  of  Indians,  repudiating  the  treaty 
by  the  terms  of  which  they  had  been  removed  beyond  the 
Father  of  Waters,  re-crossed  the  river  with  his  women  and 
children,  and  three  hundred  warriors  of  the  Sacs,  together  with 
allies  from  the  Kickapoo  and  Pottawatomie  nations.  His  object 
was  again  to  take  possession  of  his  old  hunting-grounds,  and  to 
establish  himself  where  the  principal  village  of  his  nation  before 
had  been,  in  the  Rock-river  country.  The  Indians  began 
committing  depredations  upon  the  property  of  the  white  set- 
tlers, destroying  their  crops,  pulling  down  their  fences,  driving 
off  and  slaughtering  their  cattle,  and  ordering  the  settlers 
themselves  to  leave,  under  penalty  of  being  massacred. 


38  LIFE   OP   ABRAHAM   LINCOLN. 

In  response  to  the  representations  of  Gov.  Reynolds,  to 
whom  the  settlers  applied  for  protection,  Gen.  Gaines,  com- 
mander of  the  United  States  forces  in  that  quarter,  took  prompt 
and  decisive  measures  to  expel  these  invaders  from  the  State. 
With  a  few  companies  of  regular  soldiers,  Gen.  Gaines  at  once 
took  up  his  position  at  Rock  Island,  and  at  his  call,  several 
hundred  volunteers,  assembled  from  the  northern  and  central 
parts  of  the  State,  upon  the  proclamation  of  Gov.  Reynolds, 
joined  him  a  month  later.  His  little  army,  distributed  into 
two  regiments,  an  additional  battalion,  and  a  spy  battalion,  was 
the  most  formidable  military  force  yet  seen  in  the  new  State. 
The  expected  battle  did  not  take  place,  the  Indians  having 
suddenly  and  stealthily  retired  again,  in  their  canoes,  across 
the  river.  The  troops  had  been  advanced  to  Vandruff's  Island, 
opposite  the  Indian  town,  where  the  engagement  was  antici- 
pated, and  there  was  much  dissatisfaction  among  the  volunteers, 
and  some  complaints  against  the  generals,  Gaines  and  Duncan, 
for  permitting  the  enemy  to  escape. 

Whether  or  not  either  of  these  commanders  was  chargeable 
with  blame,  this  retreat  of  Black  Hawk  only  prolonged  the 
difficulties  impending,  and  prepared  the  way  for  a  more  formid- 
able and  eventful  campaign,  the  next  season.  Gen.  Gaines, 
however,  had  taken  measures  to  preclude  any  such  possibility, 
BO  far  as  the  deliberate  engagements  of  the  uneasy  chief  could 
avail  for  that  purpose.  Intimidated  by  the  threats  of  Gaines 
to  cross  the  river,  and  to  prosecute  the  war  on  that  ground, 
Black  Hawk  sued  for  peace.  A  treaty  was  entered  into,  by 
which  he  agreed  that  he  and  his  tribe  should  ever  after  remain 
on  the  west  side  of  the  river,  unless  by  permission  of  the  State 
Governor,  or  of  the  President.  Thus  was  the  treaty  of  1804 
reaffirmed,  by  which  the  lands  they  were  claiming  had  been 
distinctly  conveyed  to  the  United  States  Government,  which, 
in  turn,  had  sold  them  to  the  present  settlers. 

In  express  violation,  however,  of  this  second  deliberate 
engagement,  Black  Hawk  and  his  followers  began,  early  in 
the  spring  of  1832,  as  we  have  seen,  to  make  preparations  for 
a  xother  invasion.  Many  and  grievous  wrongs  have  undoubt* 
c  Uy  been  inflicted  upon  tho  savage  tribes,  by  the  superior  race 


LIFE   OF   ABBAUAM   LINCOLN.  39 

that  has  gradually,  but  steadily  driven  the  former  from  theii 
ancient  homes.  But  the  bad  faith  shown  in  this  case,  and  the 
repeated  violation  of  deliberate  and  voluntary  agreements,  waa 
•wholly  without  justification  or  excuse.  No  provocation  or 
plausible  pretext  had  arisen  after  the  treaty  of  the  previous 
June ;  yet  Black  Hawk,  under  the  misguided  influence  and 
false  representations  of  the  "  Prophet,"  who  persuaded  him  to 
believe  that  even  the  British  (to  whom  Black  Hawk  had  always 
been  a  fast  friend),  as  well  as  the  Ottawas,  Chippewas,  Winne- 
bagoes  and  Pottawatomies,  would  aid  them  in  regaining  their 
village  and  the  adjoining  lands.  Under  this  delusion,  to  which 
the  wiser  Keokuk  refused  to  become  a  dupe,  though  earnestly 
invited  to  join  them,  Black  Hawk  proceeded  to  gather  as  strong 
a  force  as  possible.  He  first  established  his  headquarters  at  the 
old  site  of  Fort  Madison,  west  of  the  Mississippi.  After  his 
preparations,  of  which  the  people  of  Illinois  were  advised,  had 
been  completed,  he  proceeded  up  the  river  with  his  women 
and  children,  his  property  and  camp  equipage,  in  canoes,  while 
his  warriors,  armed  and  mounted,  advanced  by  land.  In  spite 
of  a  warning  he  had  received  that  there  was  a  strong  force  of 
white  soldiers  at  Fort  Armstrong,  on  Rock  Island,  he  continued 
on  to  the  mouth  of  Rock  river,  where,  in  utter  recklessness 
and  bad  faith — paying  not  the  slightest  regard  to  his  solemn 
agreement  of  the  last  year — the  whole  party  crossed  to  the 
east  side  of  the  Mississippi,  with  a  declared  purpose  of  ascend- 
ing Rock  river  to  the  territory  of  the  Winnebagoes.  This  was 
in  the  early  part  of  April,  1832.  Black  Hawk,  after  he  had 
gone  some  distance  up  this  latter  river,  was  overtaken  by  a 
messenger  from  Gen.  Atkinson,  who  had  command  of  the 
troops  on  Rock  Island,  and  ordered  to  return  beyond  the 
Mississippi.  This  was  defiantly  refused. 

Gov.  Reynolds  again  issued  a  call  for  volunteers  to  protect 
the  settlers  from  this  invasion.  A  company  was  promptly 
raised  in  Menard  county,  in  the  formation  of  which,  Abraham 
Lincoln  was  one  of  the  most  active.  From  New  Salem,  Clary's 
Grove,  and  elsewhere  in  the  vicinity,  an  efficient  force  was 
gathered,  and  in  making  their  organization,  Lincoln  was 
elected  Captain — and  this  was  the  first  promotion  he  had  ever 


40  LIFE   OF  ABRAHAM   LINCOLN. 

received  by  the  suffrages  of  his  fellows,  and  one  that  afforded 
particular  satisfaction  to  his  not  unaspiring,  though  modest 
spirit. 

Their  first  march  was  to  the  rendezvous  appointed  by  Gov. 
Reynolds,  at  Beardstown,  one  of  the  earlier  settlements  on  the 
Illinois  river,  forty  miles  west  of  New  Salem.  Here  eighteen 
hundred  men  were  speedily  assembled,  under  the  direction  of 
the  Governor.  The  forces  were  organized  into  four  regiments, 
with  an  additional  spy  battalion.  Geu.  Samuel  Whiteside, 
of  the  State  militia,  who  had  commanded  the  spy  battalion  in 
the  campaign  of  the  previous  year,  was  now  intrusted  with  the 
command  of  the  whole  brigade.  Gen.  James  D.  Henry  was 
placed  at  the  head  of  the  spy  battalion. 

This  little  army,  a  more  imposing  force  than  that  of  the 
preceding  year,  set  out  from  Beardstown  on  the  27th  of  April, 
for  the  scene  of  action.  Three  or  four  days'  hard  marching 
across  the  country  brought  the  volunteers  to  Oquawka,  on  the 
Mississippi,  from  whence  they  proceeded,  without  delay",  north- 
ward to  the  mouth  of  Rock  river.  Here  it  was  arranged  with 
Gen.  Atkinson,  commander  of  the  regulars,  that  the  vol- 
unteer force  should  march  up  the  latter  stream  a  distance  of 
about  fifty  miles,  to  Prophetstown,  where  they  were  to  encamp, 
awaiting  the  arrival  of  the  regulars,  with  provisions,  by  the 
river.  Gen.  Whiteside,  however,  instead  of  following  out 
this  plan,  set  fire  to  the  Prophet's  village,  on  arriving,  and 
pushed  forward  toward  Dixon's  Ferry,  forty  miles  further  up 
the  river. 

These  incessant  marches  must  have  severely  taxed  the 
endurance  of  many  of  the  inexperienced  soldiers,  but  to  Capt. 
Lincoln,  reared  as  he  had  been,  they  rather  hightened  the 
exhilaration  which  attended  these  adventures  from  the  start. 
The  prospect  of  speedily  overtaking  and  encountering  the 
enemy  in  battle,  and  the  hope  of  winning,  in  the  fight, 
some  special  honors  for  the  little  contingent  under  his  com- 
mand, relieved  the  sense  of  fatigue.  A  short  distance  below 
Dixon's  Ferry,  it  was  ordered  that  the  baggage-wagons  should 
be  left  behind,  and  that  a  forced  march  should  be  made  upon 
that  place.  Arrived  there,  Gen.  Whiteside  halted,  and  sent 


LIFE   OF   ABRAHAM   LINCOLN.  41 

out  scouting  parties  to  ascertain  the  position  and  condition  of 
the  enemy.  Here  two  battalions  of  mounted  volunteers,  num- 
bering two  hundred  and  seventy-five  men,  joined  them  from 
McLean,  Peoria,  and  other  counties,  eager  to  distinguish  them- 
selves by  participating  in  the  war.  Some  of  these  fiery  spirits, 
advancing  without  orders,  and  having  no  other  duty  assigned 
them  than  that  of  scouts,  had  a  little  skirmish  on  the  12th  of 
May,  a  mile  distant  from  their  encampment,  in  Ogle  county, 
with  a  number  of  mounted  Indians,  in  which  three  of  the 
latter  were  killed.  Black  Hawk  and  his  principal  forces  were 
not  far  off,  and  rallying  seven  hundred  men,  he  promptly 
repelled  the  assaults  of  these  scouts,  pursuing  them  in  a  dis- 
orderly condition,  to  their  camp.  These  rash  adventurers 
now  showed  greater  eagerness  in  flight,  than  they  had  before  to 
gain  distinction  in  battle,  and  ran  helter-skelter  over  the 
prairie,  producing  such  confusion  and  dismay  as  to  render  it 
difficult  to  prevent  the  most  serious  effects  from  their  insub- 
ordinate conduct.  As  it  was,  eleven  of  the  men  were  killed, 
the  confidence  of  the  Indians  was  greatly  raised,  and  the  sur- 
vivors, who  came  straggling  into  the  camp  of  General  White- 
side,  were  full  of  panic,  anticipating  an  immediate  and  general 
attack  from  their  pursuers.  Such  was  "  Stillman's  defeat." 

The  consequence  of  this  affair  was  a  council  of  war  at  the 
tent  of  the  commander-in-chief,  and  a  decision  to  march, 
early  next  morning,  to  the  scene  of  that  evening's  misadven- 
ture. The  great  battle  which  Capt.  Lincoln  and  his  fellow- 
volunteers  had  come  so  far  to  participate  in,  seemed  now  on 
the  point  of  becoming  a  reality.  Notwithstanding  the  prema- 
ture advance  of  Whiteside  from  Prophetstown  had  left  them 
without  the  necessary  supplies,  and  subjected  them  to  the 
privations  so  well  known  to  experienced  soldiers,  yet  seldom 
encountered  so  early  in  a  campaign,  they  made  up  for  the 
absence  of  their  regular  provisions  as  best  they  might,  and 
•were  ready,  with  the  dawn,  for  the  day's  undertaking.  But 
their  enemy  did  not  await  their  coming.  Arrived  at  the  scene 
of  yesterday's  skirmish  and  flight,  they  found  not  a  straggler 
of  all  the  savage  forces.  They  had  partly  gone  further  up 
the  river,  and  partly  dispersed,  to  coirmit  depredations  in  the 


42  LIFE   OF   ABRAHAM    LINCOLN. 

surrounding  country.  One  party  of  them  came  suddenly 
upon  a  settlement  near  Ottawa,  and  massacred  fifteen  persons, 
carrying  two  young  women  into  captivity.  This  circumstance 
alone  is  sufficient  to  show  how  utterly  unfounded  was  the  pre- 
tense of  some  that  Black  Hawk  had  no  hostile  purpose^  in 
this  repudiation  of  his  treaty  engagements,  and  to  remove  any 
ground  for  the  mistaken  sympathy  which  many  have  expended 
upon  him. 

After  this  energetic  but  vain  attempt  to  fall  in  with  the 
enemy  and  give  him  battle,  Gen.  Whiteside,  having  buried  the 
dead  of  the  day  before,  returned  to  camp,  where  he  was  joined, 
next  day,  by  Gen.  Atkinson,  with  his  troops  and  supplies. 
The  numbers  of  the  army  were  thus  increased  to  twenty-four 
hundred,  and  a  few  weeks  more  would  have  enabled  this  force 
to  bring  the  war  to  a  successful  close.  But  many  of  the  vol- 
unteers, whose  time  had  nearly  expired,  were  eager  to  be  dis- 
charged. They  had  seen  quite  enough  of  the  hardships  of  a 
campaign,  which,  without  bringing  as  yet  any  glory,  had 
turned  out  in  reality  quite  different  from  what  their  imagina- 
tions had  foretold.  With  the  prevailing  discontents,  but  one 
course  was  possible.  The  volunteers  were  marched  to  Ottawa, 
where  they  were  discharged  by  Gov.  Reynolds,  on  the  27th 
and  28th  of  May. 

This  sudden  disbanding,  without  a  battle,  and  with  no 
results  accomplished,  was  a  disappointment  to  the  young 
captain  from  Menard  county.  Gov.  Reynolds  had  previously 
issued  a  call  for  two  thousand  new  volunteers,  to  assemble  at 
Beardstown  and  Hennepin.  In  accordance  with  the  wishes 
of  Lincoln  and  others,  who  were  still  ready  to  bear  their 
share  of  the  campaign,  to  its  close,  the  Governor  also  asked 
for  the  formation  of  a  volunteer  regiment  from  those  just  dis- 
charged. Lincoln  promptly  enrolled  himself  as  a  private,  as 
did  also  General  Whiteside. 

Before  the  arrival  of  the  other  levies,  a  skirmishing  fight 
with  the  Indians  was  had  at  Burr  Oak  Grove,  on  the  18th  of 
June,  in  which  the  enemy  was  defeated,  with  considerable 
loss,  and  on  the  side  of  the  volunteers,  two  killed  and  one 
wounded. 


LIFE  OF  ABRAHAM    LINCOLN.  43 

The  Winnebagoes  and  Pottawatomies  now  showed  a  decid- 
edly hostile  disposition  toward  the  whites,  and  an  inclination 
to  join  the  movement  of  Black  Hawk.  Accordingly,  with  the 
appearance  of  the  new  levies,  which  had  been  divided  into 
three  regiments,  and  their  junction  with  the  regular  and  volun- 
teer forces  already  in  the  field — the  whole  number  of  volunteers 
alone  being  thirty-two  hundred — the  army  was  placed  in  a 
formidable  and  effective  attitude  for  offensive  warfare.  Mean- 
time the  Indian  atrocities  continued,  their  acts  of  signal 
treachery  and  cruelty  rendering  an  efficient  prosecution  of  the 
war,  to  its  termination,  indispensable.  Galena,  then  a  village 
of  about  four  hundred  inhabitants,  was  surrounded  by  the  des- 
perate enemy,  and  in  imminent  danger  of  attack.  Apple 
River  Fort,  twelve  miles  from  Galena,  had  already  been  made 
the  object  of  a  fierce  and  persevering  attack,  by  Black  Hawk 
himself  and  a  hundred  and  fifty  of  his  warriors,  and  obstinately 
defended  by  twenty-five  men,  during  fifteen  hours  of  constant 
fighting,  ending  with  the  retreat  of  the  Indians,  with  no  slight 
loss.  Within  the  fort,  one  man  was  killed  and  another 
wounded.  Straggling  parties  of  Indians,  at  various  points, 
made  attacks  upon  the  whites,  producing  constant  alarm  and 
excitement,  through  that  part  of  the  country. 

The  new  forces,  under  command  of  Gen.  Atkinson,  of 
the  regular  army,  were  at  length  put  in  motion,  detachments 
being  sent  out  in  different  directions.  A  severe  fight  was  had 
at  Kellogg's  Grove,  in  the  midst  of  the  Indian  country,  on  the 
25th  of  June,  resulting  in  the  retreat  of  the  Indians,  with 
much  loss.  Five  whites  were  killed,  and  three  wounded.  A 
detachment  under  Gen.  Alexander  was  stationed  in  a  position 
to  intercept  the  Indians,  should  they  attempt  to  recross  the 


Meanwhile,  it  was  understood  that  Black  Hawk  had  concen- 
trated his  forces,  in  a  fortified  position,  at  the  Four  Lakes, 
awaiting  the  issue  of  a  general  battle.  Gen.  Atkinson  moved  in 
that  direction,  with  all  possible  celerity,  and  encamped  a  mile 
above  Turtle  Village,  on  the  open  prairie,  not  far  from  Rock 
river,  on  the  30th  of  June.  The  appearance  of  hostile  Indians, 
prowling  around  his  encampment,  showed  that  their  progress 


44  LIFE   OF   ABRAHAM    LINCOLN 

was  watched,  but  they  were  not,  attacked.  Next  day,  with 
numerous  reinforcements,  Gen. 'Atkinson's  troops  reached 
Burnt  Village,  a  Winnebago  town  on  the  Whitewater  river. 
They  were  now  in  a  strange  country,  in  which,  for  want  of 
correct  information,  they  were  obliged  to  advance  slowly  and 
cautiously.  There  were  traces  of  hostile  Indians  in  the  vicin- 
ity, and  next  day  two  soldiers,  at  a  little  distance  from  the 
camp,  were  fired  upon  by  them,  and  one  seriously  wounded. 
But  from  this  point  it  was  difficult  to  discover  the  trail  of  the 
enemy. 

Nearly  two  months  had  now  passed  since  the  opening  of  the 
campaign,  and  its  purpose  seemed  as  remote  from  accomplish- 
ment as  ever.  The  new  volunteers  had  many  of  them  become 
discontented,  like  the  former  ones.  Their  number  had  in  fact 
become  reduced  one-half.  The  wearisome  marches,  the  delays, 
the  privations  and  exposures,  had  proved  to  them  that  this 
service  was  no  pastime,  and  that  its  romance  was  not  what  it 
seemed  in  the  distance.  They  sickened  of  such  service,  and 
were  glad  to  escape  from  its  restraints.  Not  so,  however,  with 
Lincoln,  who  had  found  in  reality  the  kind  of  exciting  adven- 
ture which  his  spirit  craved.  While  others  murmured,  and 
took  their  departure,  he  remained  true  and  persistent,  no  less 
eager  for  the  fray,  or  ambitious  to  play  a  genuine  soldier's 
part,  than  at  the  beginning.  To  him  it  had  been  what  his 
imagination  painted,  and  he  had  a  hearty  earnestness  in  his 
work  that  kept  him  cheerful,  and  strongly  attached  others 
to  him. 

It  was  not  destined,  however,  that  he  should  be  actively 
engaged  in  any  battle  more  serious  than  those  encounters 
already  mentioned.  The  forces  were  divided  and  dispersed  in 
different  directions,  on  the  10th  of  July,  with  a  view  to  obtain- 
ing supplies.  Two  days  later,  news  was  received  that  Black 
Hawk  was  thirty-five  miles  above  Gen.  Atkinson,  on  Rock 
river.  A  plan  of  Generals  Alexander,  Henry,  and  others,  to 
take  him  by  surprise,  without  awaiting  orders,  was  frustrated 
by  their  troops  refusing  to  follow  them.  Gen.  Henry  finally 
set  out  in  pursuit  of  the  Indians,  on  the  15th  of  July,  but  was 
misled  by  treachery.  He  continued  on  for  several  days, 


LIFE   OP   ABRAHAM   LINCOLN.  45 

acquiring  better  information,  passing  the  beautiful  country 
around  the  Four  Lakes,  the  present  site  of  Madison,  Wiscon- 
sin, and  after  another  day's  hard  march  came  close  upon  the 
retreating  Indians,  and  finally  overtook  them  on  the  21st. 
They  were  immediately  charged  upon,  and  'driven  along  the 
high  bluffs  of  the  Wisconsin,  and  down  upon  the  river  bottom. 
The  Indians  lost  sixty-eight  killed,  and  of  the  large  number 
wounded,  twenty-five  were  afterward  found  dead  on  their  trail 
leading  to  the  Mississippi.  The  regulars,  in  this  engagement 
on  the  Wisconsin,  were  commanded  by  Gen.  (then  Col.) 
ZACHARY  TAYLOR,  afterward  President  of  the  United  States. 
Gen.  Henry,  of  Illinois,  and  Col.  Dodge  (afterward  United 
States  Senator),  were  chief  commanders  of  the  volunteers. 

Waiting  two  days  at  the  Blue  Mounds,  the  forces  still  in 
the  field  were  all  united,  and  a  hard  pursuit  resumed  through 
the  forests,  down  the  Wisconsin.  On  the  fourth  day,  they 
reached  the  Mississippi,  which  some  of  the  Indians  had  already 
crossed,  while  the  others  were  preparing  to  do  so.  The  battle 
of  the  Bad-Ax  here  brought  the  war  to  a  close,  with  the  cap- 
ture of  Black  Hawk  and  his  surviving  warriors. 

Mr.  Lincoln,  as  yet  a  youth  of  but  twenty-three,  faithfully 
discharged  his  duty  to  his  country,  as  a  soldier,  persevering 
amid  peculiar  hardships,  and  against  the  influences  of  older 
men  around  him,  during  the  three  months'  service  of  this  hia 
first  and  last  military  campaign. 

Sarcastically  commenting  on  the  efforts  of  Gen.  Cass's  biog- 
raphers to  render  him  conspicuous  as  a  military  hero,  Mr. 
Lincoln,  in  a  Congressional  speech,  delivered  during  the  can- 
vass of  1848,  made  a  humorous  and  characteristic  reference  to 
his  own  experiences  as  a  soldier.  We  give  his  language  on 
this  occasion,  as  a  suitable  pendant  to  our  sketch  of  this  period 
of  Mr.  Lincoln's  youth  : 

(;  By  the  way,  Mr.  Speaker,  did  you  know  I  am  a  military 
hero?  Yes,  sir,  in  the  days  of  the  Black  Hawk  war,  I  fought, 
bled,  and  came  away.  Speaking  of  Gen.  Cass's  career,  reminds 
me  of  my  own.  I  was  not  at  Stillman's  defeat,  but  I  was 
about  as  near  it,  as  Cass  to  Hull's  surrender ;  and  like  him,  I 
saw  the  place  very  soon  afterward.  It  is  quite  certain  I  did 


46  LIFE   OP   ABRAHAM   LINCOLN. 

not  break  my  sword,  for  I  had  none  to  break  ;  but  I  bent  a 
musket  pretty  badly  on  one  occasion.  If  Cass  broke  his  sword, 
the  idea  is,  he  broke  it  in  desperation ;  I  bent  the  musket  by 
accident.  If  Gen.  Cass  went  in  advance  of  me  in  picking 
whortleberries,  I  guess  I  surpassed  him  in  charges  upon  the 
wild  onions.  If  he  saw  any  live,  fighting  Indians,  it  was  more 
than  I  did,  but  I  had  a  good  many  bloody  struggles  with  the 
musquitoes ;  and  although  I  never  fainted  from  loss  of  blood, 
I  can  truly  say  I  was  often  very  hungry. 

"  Mr.  Speaker,  if  I  should  ever  conclude  to  doff  whatever 
our  Democratic  friends  may  suppose  there  is  of  black-cockade 
Federalism  about  me,  and,  thereupon,  they  should  take  me  up 
as  their  candidate  for  the  Presidency,  I  protest  they  shall  not 
make  fun  of  me  as  they  have  of  Gen.  Cass,  by  attempting  to 
write  me  into  a  military  hero." 


LIFE   OP   ABRAHAM    LINCOLN.  47 


CHAPTER  Y. 

EIGHT  YEARS  IN  THE   LEGISLATURE  OF  ILLINOIS — 1834-41. 

A  New  Period  in  Mr.  Lincoln's  Life.— His  Political  Opinions.— Clay 
and  Jackson. — His  first  Run  as  a  Candidate  for  Representative. — His 
Election  in  1834. — Illinois  Strongly  Democratic. — Mr.  Lincoln  as  a 
Surveyor. — Land  Speculation  Mania. — Mr.  Lincoln's  First  Appear- 
ance in  the  Legislature. — Banks  and  Internal  Improvements. — Whig 
Measures  Democratically  Botched. — First  Meeting  of  Lincoln  with 
Douglas.— The  Latter  Seeks  an  Office  of  the  Legislature  and  Gets  it. 
—Mr.  Lincoln  Re-elected  in  1836.— Mr.  Douglas  also  a  Member  of 
the  House.  —  Distinguished  Associates.  —  Internal  Improvements 
Again. — Mr.  Lincoln's  Views  on  Slavery. — The  Capital  Removed  to 
Springfield.— The  New  Metropolis. — The  Revulsion  of  1837.— Mr. 
Lincoln  Chosen  for  a  Third  Term. — John  Calhoun  of  Lecompton 
Memory. — Lincoln  the  Whig  Leader,  and  Candidate  for  Speaker. — 
Close  Vote.— First  Session  at  Springfield.— Lincoln  Re-elected  in 
1840.— Partizan  Remodeling  of  the  Supreme  Court. — Lincoln  Declines 
Further  Service  in  the  Legislature. — His  Position  as  a  Statesman  at 
the  Close  of  this  Period.— A  Tribune  of  the  People. 

WE  now  approach  the  period  of  Mr.  Lincoln's  transition  to 
the  more  natural  position  in  which,  as  a  professional  man  and 
a  statesman,  he  was  to  attain  that  success  and  eminence  for 
which  his  rare  endowments  fitted  him.  Hitherto,  he  had  been 
unconsciously  undergoing  a  varied  training,  the  whole  tendency 
of  which,  if  rightly  subjected  afterward  to  a  high  purpose  in 
life,  could  not  fail  to  be  advantageous.  He  had  learned  much 
of  the  world,  and  of  men,  and  gained  some  true  knowledge  of 
himself.  The  discipline  of  those  hard  years  of  toil  and  penury, 
so  manfully  and  cheerfully  gone  through  with,  was  of  more 
value  to  him,  as  time  was  to  prove,  than  any  heritage  of  wealth 
or  of  ancestral  eminence  could  have  been.  Still  the  conflict 
with  an  adverse  fortune  was, to  continue;  but  from  this  time 


48  LIFE   OP   ABRAHAM    LINCOLN. 

onward,  a  more  genial  future  began  to  shape  itself  in  tlie  hopes 
and  aspirations  of  the  self-reliant  youth.  His  later  experi- 
ences had  shown  him  more  clearly  that  he  was  not  to  be  a 
mere  private  in  the  great  battle  of  life,  but  that  he  had  certain 
qualities  which  could  place  him  at  the  head  of  a  column  or  of 
a  brigade,  if  he  were  so  minded.  Nor  was  he  indifferent  to 
the  good  opinion  of  his  fellow-men.  The  confessed  satisfac- 
tion which  the  captaincy  of  a  company  of  volunteers  had  given 
him,  as  the  expressed  preference  of  a  hundred  or  two  of  asso- 
ciates for  him  above  all  others,  as  a  leader,  showed  that,  however 
distrustful  as  yet  of  his  own  powers,  he  was  not  without  ambi- 
tion, or  unable  to  appreciate  popular  honors. 

This  campaign  likewise,  besides  the  excitements  of  varied 
adventure  which  it  afforded,  so  much  to  his  natural  inclination, 
had  brought  him  in  contact  with  inspiring  influences  and 
associations,  and  had  demonstrated,  and  doubtless  improved,  his 
powers  of  fixing  the  esteem  and  admiration  of  those  around 
him.  He  had  been,  as  is  told  of  him,  a  wild  sort  of  a  boy, 
and  in  his  peculiar  way  he  had  attached  his  associates  to  him 
to  a  remarkable  degree.  This  will  be  seen  from  a  circum- 
stance to  be  presently  related.  His  horizon  had  been  enlarged 
and  his  dreams  ennobled.  Meantime,  it  is  to  be  remembered, 
that  he  had  come  home  from  the  Black  Hawk  war  with  no 
definite  business  to  resort  to,  and  still  under  a  necessity  of 
devoting  his  chief  and  immediate  energies  to  self-support. 

He  has,  then,  reached  a  new  epoch  of  his  youth,  at  this 
date,  and  entered  on  another  distinct  period  of  his  history. 
Proof  of  this  we  shall  find  in  the  fact  that  he  became,  on 
returning  home,  a  candidate  for  representative  in  the  State 
Legislature,  the  election  of  which  was  close  at  hand.  A 
youth  of  twenty-three,  and  not  at  all  generally  known  through 
the  county,  or  able,  in  the  brief  time  allowed,  to  make  him- 
self so,  it  may  have  an  appearance  of  presumption  for  him  to 
have  allowed  the  use  of  his  name  as  a  candidate.  He  was  not 
elected,  certainly,  and  could  hardly  have  thought  such  an  event 
possible ;  yet  the  noticeable  fact  remains  that  he  received  so 
wonderful  a  vote  in  his  own  precinct,  where  he  was  best 
if  not  almost  exclusively  known,  as  may  almost  be  said  to 


LIFE    OF    ABRAHAM    LINCOLN.  49 

have  made  his  fortune.  His  preciuct  (he  had  now  settled  in 
Sangamon  county)  was  strongly  for  Jackson,  while  Lincoln 
had,  from  the  start,  warmly  espoused  the  cause  of  Henry  Clay. 
The  State  election  occurred  in  August,  and  the  Presidential 
election  two  or  three  mouths  later,  the  same  season.  Political 
feeling  ran  high,  at  this  the  second  election  (as  it  proved)  of 
Jackson.  Notwithstanding  this,  such  was  the  popularity 
which  young  Lincoln  had  brought  home  with  him  from  the 
war,  that  out  of  the  two  hundred  and  eighty -four  votes  cast 
in  his  precinct,  two  hundred  and  seventy-seven — the  entire 
vote  wanting  seven — were  cast  for  him.  Yet,  a  little  later  in 
the  same  canvass,  Gen.  Jackson  received  a  majority  of  one 
hundred  and  fifty-five  for  the  Presidency,  from  the  very  same 
men,  over  Mr.  Clay,  whose  cause  Lincoln  was  known  to  favor. 
So  marked  an  indication  as  this  of  his  personal  power  to  draw 
votes,  made  him  a  political  celebrity  at  once.  In  future  elec- 
tions it  became  a  point  with  aspirants  to  seek  to  combine  his 
strength  in  their  favor,  by  placing  Lincoln's  name  on  their 
ticket,  to  secure  his  battalion  of  voters.  When  he  was  elected 
to  the  Legislature  for  the  first  time,  two  years  later,  his  major- 
ity ranged  about  two  hundred  votes  higher  than  the  rest  of  the 
ticket  on  which  he  ran. 

Such  was  the  beginning  of  Mr.  Lincoln's  political  life,  almost 
in  his  boyhood.  This  is  the  proper  place  to  pause  and  review, 
in  a  brief  way,  the  state  of  political  affairs  in  Illinois,  at 
the  time  of  his  first  appearance  upon  this  public  arena.  We 
shall  find  the  revolution  which  has  been  wrought — Mr.  Lin- 
coln, though  for  long  years  in  an  apparently  hopeless  minority 
in  the  State,  having  been  always  a  foremost  leader  on  the  side 
opposed  to  the  Democracy — to  be  scarcely  less  remarkable  than 
his  youthful  successes  at  the  polls. 

At  the  date  of  Mr.  Lincoln's  arrival — when  just  of  age — in 
the  State  of  Illinois,  Gen.  Jackson  was  in  the  midst  of  his 
first  Presidential  term.  Since  1826  every  general  election  in 
that  State  had  resulted  decisively  in  favor  of  his  friends. 
In  August,  1830,  the  first  election  after  Lincoln  became  a 
resident  of  the  State,  and  before  he  was  a  qualified  voter,  the 
only  rival  candidates  for  Governor,  were  both  of  the  same 
5 


50  LIFE    OF    ABRAHAM    LINCOLN. 

strongly  predominant  party.  The  Legislature  then  elected 
had  a  large  majority  on  that  side.  In  1832,  Gen.  Jackson 
received  the  electoral  vote  of  Illinois,  for  the  second  time, 
by  a  decisive  majority.  The  Legislature  of  1834  was  so 
strongly  Democratic,  that  the  Whig  members  did  not  have 
any  candidates  of  their  own,  in  organizing  the  House,  but 
chose  rather  to  exercise  the  little  power  they  had  in  favor  of 
such  Democratic  candidate  as  they  preferred.  Against  such, 
odds,  as  we  shall  see,  the  opponents  of  that  party  struggled 
long  and  in  vain.  Even  the  great  political  tornado  which 
swept  over  so  large  a  portion  of  the  Union  in  1840,  made  no 
decisive  impression  upon  Illinois.  In  spite  of  all  these  diffi- 
culties and  discouragements,  Mr.  Lincoln  adhered  steadily  to 
his  faith,  never  once  dreaming  of  seeking  profit  in  compliance, 
or  in  a  compromise  of  his  honest  principles.  Henry  Clay  was 
his  model  as  a  statesman,  and  always  continued  such,  while 
any  issues  were  left  to  contend  for,  of  the  celebrated  American 
system  of  the  great  Kentuckian. 

During  the  time  Mr.  Lincoln  was  pursuing  his  law  studies, 
and  making  his  first  practical  acquaintance  with  political  life, 
he  turned  his  attention  to  the  business  of  a  surveyor  as  a 
means  of  support.  The  mania  for  speculation  in  Western 
lands  and  lots  was  beginning  to  spread  over  the  country  at  this 
time ;  and  while  our  young  student  of  law  had  neither  means 
nor  inclination  to  embark  in  any  such  enterprise  for  himself,  it 
was  the  means  of  bringing  him  some  profitable  employment 
with  the  chain  and  compass.  From  the  earliest  grand  center 
of  these  operations  in  land  and  town  lots,  Chicago,  which  had 
also  itself  furnished,  even  then,  most  remarkable  examples  of 
fortunes  easily  made,  the  contagion  spread  everywhere  through 
the  State.  Towns  and  cities  without  number  were  laid  out  in 
all  directions,  and  innumerable  fortunes  were  made,  in  anti- 
cipation, by  the  purchase  of  lots  in  all  sorts  of  imaginary  cities? 
during  the  four  or  five  years  preceding  the  memorable  crisis 
and  crash  of  1837.  It  was  during  the  year  previous  to  that 
consummation,  that  this  business  had  reached  its  hight  in 
Illinois.  With  the  revulsion,  came  also  a  brief  period  of 
adversity  to  the  successful  surveyor,  whose  occupation  was  now 


LIFE   OF   ABRAHAM    LINCOLN.  51 

gone.  It  is  said  that  even  his  surveying  instruments  were 
sold  under  the  hammer.  But  this  cha^e  only  served  to  estab- 
lish him  more  exclusively  and  permanently  in  his  profession 
of  the  law. 

Mr.  Lincoln's  first  election  to  the  Illinois  Legislature,  as  has 
heen  stated,  was  in  1834.  His  associates  on  the  ticket  were  Major 
John  T.  Stuart  (two  or  three  years  later  elected  to  Congress), 
John  Dawson  and  William  Carpenter.  All  were  decided  Clay 
men,  or,  as  the  party  in  that  State  was  first  styled,  Democratic 
Republicans.  About  this  time,  the  name  of  Whigs  had  begun 
to  be  their  current  designation.  Lincoln  was  the  youngest 
member  of  this  Legislature,  with  the  single  exception  of  Hon. 
Jesse  K.  Dubois,  of  Lawrence  county,  now  Auditor  of  State 
in  Illinois,  who  served  with  him  during  his  entire  legislative 
career.  He  had  not  yet  acquired  position  as  a  lawyer,  or  even 
been  admitted  to  the  bar,  and  had  his  reputation  to  make,  no 
less,  as  a  politician  and  orator.  At  this  time  he  was  very  plain 
in  his  costume,  as  well  as  rather  uncourtly  in  his  address  and 
general  appearance.  His  clothing  was  of  homely  Kentucky 
jean,  and  the  first  impression  made  by  his  tall,  lank  ^gure, 
upon  those  who  saw  him,  was  not  specially  prepossessing.  He 
had  not  outgrown  his  hard  backwoods  experience,  and  showed 
no  inclination  to  disguise  or  to  cast  behind  him  the  honest  and 
manly,  though  unpolished  characteristics  of  his  earlier  days. 
Never  was  a  man  further  removed  from  all  snobbish  affectation. 
As  little  was  there,  also,  of  the  demagogue  art  of  assuming  an 
uncouthness  or  rusticity  of  manner  and  outward  habit,  with  the 
mistaken  notion  of  thus  securing  particular  favor  as  "  one  of 
the  masses."  He  chose  to  appear  then,  as  he  has  at  all  times 
since,  precisely  what  he  was.  His  deportment  was  unassuming, 
though  without  any  awkwardness  of  reserve. 

During  this,  his  first  session  in  the  Legislature,  he  was 
taking  lessons,  as  became  his  youth  and  inexperience,  and 
preparing  himself  for  the  future,  by  close  observation  and 
attention  to  business,  rather  than  by  a  prominent  participation 
in  debate.  He  seldom  or  never  took  the  floor  to  speak, 
although  before  the  close  of  this  and  the  succeeding  special 
session  of  the  same  Legislature,  he  had  shown,  as  previously 


52  LIFE   OK    ABRAHAM    LINCOLN. 

in  every  other  capacity  in  which  he  was  engaged,  qualities  that 
clearly  pointed  to  him  as  fitted  to  act  a  leading  part.  One  of 
his  associates  from  Sangamon  county,  Maj.  Stuart,  was  now 
the  most  prominent  member  on  the  Whig  side  of  the  House. 

The  organization  of  this  Legislature  was  of  course  in  the 
hands  of  the  Democrats.  The  Speaker  was  Hon.  James 
Semple,  afterward  United  States  Senator.  In  the  selection  of 
his  committees,  he  assigned  Lincoln  the  second  place  on  the 
Committee  on  Public  Accounts  and  Expenditures,  as  if  with 
an  intuition,  in  advance  of  acquaintance,  of  the  propriety  of 
setting  "  Honest  Abe  "  to  look  after  the  public  treasury. 

Hon.  Joseph  Duncan,  then  a  member  of  Congress,  had  been 
elected  Governor  at  the  same  time  this  Legislature  was  chosen, 
over  Mr.  Kinney,  also  a  Democrat,  and  of  what  was  then  termed 
the  "whole hog  "  Jackson  school.  Notwithstanding  the  strong 
preponderance  of  the  Democrats  in  both  branches  of  the  Legis- 
lature, and  in  the  State,  it  is  noticeable  that  in  the  distinguish- 
ing measures  of  Whig  policy,  in  this  as  in  subsequent  years, 
the  minority  found  their  principles  repeatedly  in  the  ascendant, 
though,  unable  to  control  the  details  of  their  practical  applica- 
tion. This  was  true  more  particularly  in  regard  to  banks  and 
internal  improvements.  Though  inferior  in  numbers,  the 
Whigs  had  superiority  in  ability,  and  in  the  real  popularity 
and  genuine  democracy  of  their  doctrines. 

General  attention  had  now  come  to  be  strongly  fixed  upon 
the  remarkable  natural  advantages  and  resources  of  the  new 
State  of  Illinois.  Land  speculation,  as  we  have  seen,  had 
already  begun  to  bring  in  Eastern  money,  and  the  population 
was  rapidly  increasing.  According  to  the  Whig  policy,  it  now 
became  desirable  that  every  proper  and  reasonable  legislative 
aid  should  be  afforded  to  further  the  development  of  the  latent 
power  of  this  young  commonwealth,  and  its  progress  toward 
the  high  rank  among  the  States  of  the  Mississippi  valley,  which 
had  been  indicated  and  provided  for  by  nature.  Despite  the 
strong  Democratic  predominancy  in  this  Legislature,  therefore, 
a  new  State  bank,  with  a  capital  of  one  million  and  five  hun- 
dred thousand  dollars,  was  incorporated,  and  the  Illinois  bank 
at  Shawneetown,  which  had  suspended  for  twelve  years,  wag 


LIFE  OP  ABRAHAM    LINCOLN.  63 

rechartered,  with  a  capital  of  three  hundred  thousand  dollars. 
It  is  to  be  noticed,  however,  that  this  bank  legislation,  just  like 
that  of  many  other  States,  similarly  circumstanced,  while  it 
fully  indorsed  the  Whig  policy,  in  its  fundamental  principle, 
was  by  no  means  so  skillfully  done  or  so  safely  guarded  as  it 
should  have  been,  and  habitually  was  done  in  those  States 
where  the  Whigs  were  in  the  ascendant.  Whatever  troubles 
have  accrued  in  Illinois,  under  this  head,  have  been  chiefly 
due  to  the  fact  that  Whig  measures  were  not  rightly  shaped 
and  executed  by  Democratic  hands.  Whig  measures, 
framed  and  carried  out  by  Democrats,  have  too  often  ended  in 
a  mere  botch.  At  the  same  time,  it  is  observable  that  these 
imperfect,  yet  plausible  concessions  to  the  public  welfare,  have 
often  saved  the  Democratic  party,  at  the  expense  of  the  real 
interest  involved.  The  State  bank  charter  passed  the  House 
of  Representatives  by  one  majority. 

This  Legislature  also  gave  some  attention  to  what  are 
technically  called  internal  improvements  within  the  State.  In 
behalf  of  the  Illinois  and  Michigan  Canal,  the  company  for 
constructing  which  had  been  incorporated  in  1825,  a  loan  was 
agitated  at  the  first  session.  Congress  had  granted  for  this 
work,  in  1826,  about  300,000  acres  of  land  on  the  proposed 
route  of  the  canal.  But  for  a  special  message  of  Gov.  Duncan, 
maintaining  that  the  desired  loan  could  be  effected  on  a  pledge 
of  these  canal  lands  alone,  it  is  probable  that  the  loan  bill, 
reported  by  a  Senator  from  Sangamon  county,  named  George 
Forquer,  would  have  passed.  At  the  next  session,  in  1835, 
this  measure  was  carried,  a  bill  pledging  the  credit  of  the  State 
in  behalf  of  the  Canal  Company,  to  the  amount  originally  pro- 
posed, having  become  a  law.  The  loan  was  negotiated  by  Gov. 
Duncan  the  next  year,  and  the  work  on  "this  important  canal 
was  commenced  in  June,  1836.  At  the  same  special  session,  a 
large  number  of  railroads,  without  State  aid,  were  chartered,  in- 
cluding the  Illinois  Central  and  the  Galena  and  Chicago  routes. 

It  is  hardly  necessary  to  state  more  distinctly  that  these 
measures,  securing,  with  all  the  defects  of  their  origin,  immense 
benefits  to  the  people  of  Illinois,  and  in  their  spirit  accordant 
with  the  great  principles  of  the  "  American  system,"  were  sup- 


54  LIFE   OP   ABRAHAM    LINCOLN. 

ported  by  Mr.  Lincoln  and  his  Whig  associates.  Not  what 
they  desired,  these  measures  were  yet  the  nearest  approach  to 
their  wishes  that  could  be  obtained  of  the  majority. 

It  was  during  the  regular  session  of  this  Legislature,  that 
Stephen  A.  Douglas,  not  himself  a  member,  became  first  known 
to  Mr.  Lincoln.  Late  in  the  year  1833,  Mr.  Douglas,  then  in 
his  twenty-first  year,  had  migrated  to  Illinois  (Vermont  being 
his  native  State),  and  commenced  teaching  a  district  school  in 
Winchester,  Scott  county.  During  the  succeeding  year,  he 
gave  a  portion  of  his  time  to  the  study  of  law,  taking  part  also 
in  the  political  affairs  of  his  locality.  The  Legislature,  at  this 
session,  had  taken  from  the  Governor  the  power  of  appointing 
State's  attorneys  for  the  several  judicial  districts,  and  provided 
that  these  officers  should  be  elected  by  the  Legislature,  in  joint 
convention.  Though  he  had  been  but  a  little  more  than  a  year 
in  the  State,  and  was  scarcely  to  be  regarded  as  an  expert  in 
the  profession  of  the  law,  Mr.  Douglas  presented  himself  before 
the  Legislature  as  a  candidate  for  State's  attorney  for  the  first 
judicial  district,  against  Mr.  Hardin,  a  distinguished  lawyer, 
then  in  office.  The  movement  was  so  adroit,  that  the  youthful 
advocate  distanced  his  unsuspecting  competitor,  receiving  thirty- 
eight  votes  to  thirty-six  cast  against  him.  At  this  time,  young 
Douglas  was  as  thin  in  flesh  as  he  is  short  in  stature.  Mr. 
Lincoln  has  since  remarked,  that  on  this  the  first  occasion  of 
their  meeting,  Douglas  "  had  no  flesh  on  him,"  and  was  physi- 
cally "  the  least  man  he  ever  saw." 

In  1836,  Mr.  Lincoln  was  elected  for  a  second  term,  as  one 
of  the  seven  representatives  from  Sangamon  county.  Among 
his  associates  were  Mr.  Dawson,  re-elected,  and  Ninian  W. 
Edwards.  Mr.  Douglas  was  one  of  the  representatives  from 
Morgan  county  (to  which  he  had  recently  removed),  and  along 
with  him  Mr.  Hardin,  whom  he  had  managed  to  supersede  as 
State's  attorney  in  1835.  The  latter  (who  was  subsequently  in 
Congress,  and  who  fell  at  Buena  Vista)  was  the  only  Whig  elected 
from  that  county,  the  other  five  representatives  being  Demo- 
crats. This  canvass  in  Morgan  county  is  memorable  for 
introducing  in  Illinois,  through  the  aid  of  Douglas,  the 
convention  system,  the  benefit  of  which  he  was  subsequently 


LIFE   OF   ABRAHAM    LINCOLN.  55 

to  reap  in  the  local  contests  of  that  State.  He  had  been  put  on 
the  representative  ticket  to  fill  a  vacancy  occasioned  by  the 
declinature  of  one  of  the  candidates,  having  failed  himself 
in  this  instance  to  secure  a  nomination  from  the  convention. 
He  was  never  again  elected  to  the  Legislature,  having  in  fact 
vacated  his  seat  after  the  first  session,  and  accepted  the  federal 
appointment  of  Register  in  the  land  office  at  Springfield. 

In  this  body,  as  in  that  which  immediately  preceded,  the 
Democrats  had  a  decided  majority.  Gen.  Semple  was  re-elected 
Speaker.  Mr.  Lincoln  was  assigned  a  place  on  the  Com- 
mittee of  Finance.  In  addition  to  those  we  have  already 
named,  the  House  included  many  men  of  ability,  who  have 
been  distinguished  in  the  politics  of  the  State  or  of  the  nation, 
among  whom  were  James  Shields,  Augustus  C.  French,  Robert 
Smith,  John  Dougherty,  TV.  A.  Richardson,  and  John  A.  Mc- 
Clernand.  At  the  two  sessions  of  this  Legislature,  in  1836 
and  '37,  Mr.  Lincoln  came  forward  more  prominently  in  debate, 
gradually  becoming  recognized  as  the  leading  man  on  the 
Whig  side. 

The  subject  of  internal  improvements  became  one  of  the 
most  prominent  ones  before  this  Legislature,  as  had  happened 
with  the  last.  Of  this  policy,  in  a  judiciously  guarded  form, 
Mr.  Lincoln  had  been  from  the  first  a  staunch  and  efficient 
advocate.  He  held  it  to  be  the  duty  of  Government  to  extend 
its  fostering  aid,  in  every  Constitutional  way,  and  to  a  reason- 
able extent,  to  whatever  enterprise  of  public  utility  required 
such  assistance,  in  order  to  the  fullest  development  of  the 
natural  resources,  and  to  the  most  rapid  healthful  growth  of 
the  State.  The  Democratic  party,  while  professing  the  let- 
alone  (laissez-faire)  principle  in  general,  was  compelled  to  fol- 
low pretty  closely  in  the  wake  of  its  adversary,  in  some  of  its 
most  distinctive  features  of  public  policy.  The  question  of 
internal  improvements  was  one  of  these.  And  while  the  Dem- 
ocrats had  a  decided  majority  of  the  members  of  each  House, 
it  was  understood  that,  by  the  aid  of  pledges  made  contrary  to 
Democratic  teaching  in  general,  a  majority  for  liberal  legisla- 
tion in  regard  to  internal  improvements  had  likewise  been 
secured.  The  business,  in  fact,  under  the  grand  excitement  of 


66  LIFE   OF   ABRAHAM    LINCOLN. 

the  flush  times  of  1836,  was  somewhat  overdone,  and  through 
subsequent  mismanagement  and  the  revulsion  of  the  next  y«ar, 
matters  were  eventually  made  still  worse.  The  voice  of  the 
people  was  overwhelmingly  in  favor  of  the  legislation  which 
was  granted.  Even  Whigs  like  Mr.  Lincoln,  were  outstripped 
by  some  ardent  Democrats — Mr.  Douglas  among  them — in  zeal 
for  these  improvements  ;  they  having  unfortunately,  as  noticed 
in  the  case  of  hank-legislation,  in  appropriating  the  principle, 
failed  to  understand  its  most  skillful  and  safe  application  in 
practice.  >'  * 

At  the  first  session  of  1836-7,  about  1,300  miles  of*  railroad 
were  provided  for,  in  various  quarters,  the  completion  of  the  Illi- 
nois and  Michigan  Canal,  from  Chicago  to  Peru,  and  the  im- 
provement of  the  navigation  of  the  Kaskaskia,  Illinois,  Rock, 
and  Great  and  Little  Wabash  rivers  ;  requiring  in  all  a  loan  of 
$8,000,000.  This  included  the  novel  appropriation  of  $200,000 
to  be  distributed  among  those  counties  through  which  none  of 
the  proposed  improvements  were  to  be  made.  The  system 
voted  by  the  Legislature  was  on  a  most  magnificent  scale,  such 
as  New  York,  Pennsylvania,  Ohio  or  Indiana  had  not  surpassed. 
This  system  of  internal  improvement,  with  Democratic  varia- 
tions, having  scarcely  been  inaugurated  when  the  crash  of  1837 
came,  did  not  entirely  correspond  in  practice  with  what  it  had 
promised  in  theory. 

There  was  also  a  considerable  addition  made  to  the  banking 
capital  of  the  State  at  this  session. 

During  the  winter,  resolutions  of  an  extreme  Southern  char- 
acter, on  the  slavery  question,  were  introduced,  and,  after  dis- 
cussion, adopted  by  the  Democratic  majority.  The  attempt 
was,  of  course,  made  to  affix  a  character  of  abolitionism  to  all 
those  who  refused  assent  to  these  extreme  views.  At  that 
time,  the  public  sentiment  of  the  North  was  not  aroused  on 
the  subject,  as  it  became  a  few  years  later,  in  consequence  of 
pro-slavery  aggressions.  Yet  Mr.  Lincoln  refused  to  vote  for 
these  resolutions,  and  exercised  his  Constitutional  privilege, 
along  with  one  of  his  colleagues  from  Sangamon  county,  of 
entering  upon  the  Journal  of  the  House  his  reasons  for  thua 
acting.  As  showing  his  sentiments  twenty-three  years  ago, 


LIFE    OP  ABRAHAM     LINCOLN.  57 

on  this  now  so  prominent  national  question,  the  protest 
referred  to,  as  it  appears  on  the  journal,  is  here  appended 
in  full : 

MARCH  3d,  1837. 

The  following  protest  was  presented  to  the  House,  which 
was  read  and  ordered  to  be  spread  on  the  journals,  to  wit: 

"  Resolutions  upon  the  subject  of  domestic  slavery  having 
passed  both  branches  of  the  General  Assembly,  at  its  present 
session,  the  undersigned  hereby  protest  against  the  passage 
of  the  same. 

"  They  believe  that  the  institution  of  slavery  is  founded  on 
both  injustice  and  bad  policy  ;  but  that  the  promulgation  of 
abolition  doctrines  tends  rather  to  increase  than  abate  its  evils. 

"  They  believe  that  the  Congress  of  the  United  States  has 
no  power,  under  the  Constitution,  to  interfere  with  the  institu- 
tion of  slavery  in  the  different  States. 

"  They  believe  that  the  Congress  of  the  United  States  has 
the  power,  under  the  Constitution,  to  abolish  slavery  in  the 
District  of  Columbia ;  but  that  the  power  ought  not  to  be 
exercised,  unless  at  the  request  of  the  people  of  said  District. 

"  The  difference  between  these  opinions  and  those  contained 
in  the  said  resolutions,  is  their  reason  for  entering  this  protest. 
"  (Signed) 

"  DAN  STONE, 
"  A.  LINCOLN, 

"  Representatives  from  the  County  of  Sangamon" 

On  the  formation  of  the  separate  Territory  of  Illinois,  in 
1809,  Kaskaskia,  perhaps  the  oldest  town  in  all  the  Western 
country,  had  been  designated  as  the  capital.  Such  it  con- 
tinued to  be  until  Illinois  was  admitted  into  the  Union  as  a 
State,  in  1818,  when  Vandalia,  far  up  the  Kaskaskia  river, 
was  laid  out  as  the  new  capital.  For  some  time  it  continued 
to  be  relatively  a  central  location.  But  during  several  years 
preceding  1837,  the  middle  and  northern  portions  of  the 
State  had  filled  so  rapidly  that  the  propriety  of  a  removal  of 
the  capital  to  a  point  nearer  the  geographical  center  had 
become  manifestly  expedient.  At  this  session,  accordingly, 
an  act  was  passed  changing  the  seat  of  government  to  Spring- 
field, the  principal  town  in  the  interior  of  the  State,  from  and 
after  the  4th  day  of  July,  1839.  To  the  people  of  Sangamon 
county,  whom  Mr.  Lincoln  represented,  this  was  of  course  a 
6 


58  LIFE   OF   ABRAHAM   LINCOLN. 

most  satisfactory  measure,  and  by  the  State  at  large  it  was 
received  with  general  approbation.  Vandalia,  which  had 
reached  a  population  of  about  two  thousand,  dwindled  away 
for  a  time,  until  it  had  but  about  one-fourth  that  number  of 
inhabitants,  though  of  late  years  it  has  revived.  Springfield 
has  steadily  advanced,  since  this  period,  and  is  one  of  the 
most  beautiful  interior  towns  of  the  West.  The  prairie  coun- 
try for  scores  of  miles  around  is  as  charming  in  appearance 
and  as  fertile  in  its  productions  as  any  tract  of  like  extent  on 
the  face  of  the  earth.  It  is  greatly  to  the  credit  of  Mr.  Lin- 
coln's good  taste  and  sagacity  that,  when  he  came  to  his 
majority,  he  fixed  upon  such  a  locality  for  his  home,  fore- 
seeing for  this  spot  a  successful  future,  to  which  (  altogether 
beyond  his  anticipation )  his  influence,  in  1836,  added  a 
material  advantage,  and  his  presence,  in  1860,  gives  a  national 
luster  of  renown. 

The  financial  disasters  of  the  spring  of  1837,  were  the 
occasion  of  an  extra  session  of  the  Legislature  of  Illinois  in 
July  of  that  year.  The  Governor  asked  for  the  legalization 
of  the  suspension  of  specie  payments  by  the  banks  of  the 
State,  which  a  majority  of  both  Houses  granted.  He  also 
asked  a  repeal  or  modification  of  the  internal  improve- 
ment system,  which  was  refused.  The  condition  of  affairs 
was  deemed  critical,  and  particularly  so  to  the  prospects  of  the 
Democratic  party,  which  had  just  been  congratulating  itself 
on  the  election  and  inauguration  of  the  successor  of  Gen. 
Jackson,  Martin  Van  Buren,  as  President.  In  Illinois,  that 
party  had  held  unbroken  and  decisive  sway,  from  the  days  of 
the  younger  Adams  down.  Whatever  looseness  of  legislation 
had  contributed  to  these  evils  at  home,  they  were  responsible 
for.  And  in  the  nation,  the  political  dangers  were  felt  to  be 
imminent — so  much  so  that  the  President  had  called  an  extra 
session  of  Congress.  There  was  a  want  of  Democratic  har- 
mony, however,  at  Washington  and  at  Vandalia.  The  doctors 
of  the  party  sat  in  council  at  the  latter  place,  during  the 
special  session,  but  in  the  Legislature  they  only  accomplished 
what  has  been  stated.  It  now  required  the  most  desper- 
ate exertions  to  save  the  Democracy  from  defeat,  and  the 


LIFE   OF   ABRAHAM   LINCOLN.  59 

Whigs  actively  followed  up  their  advantages.  So  overwhelm- 
ing had  been  the  strength  of  their  opponents,  however,  from 
the  time  that  Mr.  Lincoln  first  appeared  on  the  political  stage, 
and  long  before,  that,  while  a  great  change  was  visible  in  the 
results  of  the  next  election,  the  revolution  was  not  yet  to  be 
completed. 

In  1838,  Mr.  Lincoln  was  for  the  third  time  elected  a  repre- 
sentative in  the  Legislature,  for  the  two  years  ensuing. 
Among  the  other  six  representatives  of  Sangamon  county  was 
John  Calhoun,  since  notorious  for  his  connection  with  the 
Lecompton  Constitution.  Availing  himself  of  some  local 
issue  or  other,  and  being  a  man  of  conceded  ability,  of  highly 
respectable  Whig  antecedents  and  connections,  he  had  slipped 
in  by  a  small  majority,  crowding  out  the  lowest  candidate  on 
the  Whig  ticket.  The  remaining  five  were  Whigs,  including 
E.  D.  Baker,  Ninian  W.  Edwards,  and  A.  McCormick.  The 
strength  of  the  two  parties  in  the  House  was  nearly  evenly 
balanced,  the  Democrats  having  only  three  or  four  majority, 
rendering  this  unexpected  gain  particularly  acceptable. 

So  well  recognized  was  now  the  position  of  Mr.  Lincoln  in 
his  party  that,  by  general  consent,  he  received  the  Whig  vote 
for  the  Speakership.  There  was  a  close  contest,  his  Demo- 
cratic competitor  being  Col.  William  Lee  D.  Ewing,  who  had 
served  with  Lincoln  in  the  Black  Hawk  war.  On  the  fourth 
ballot,  Ewing  had  a  majority  of  one  over  all  others,  two 
Whigs  (including  Mr.  Lincoln)  and  two  Democrats  having 
scattered  their  votes. 

At  the  State  election,  in  August,  1838,  the  Whig  candidate 
for  Governor  made  an  excellent  run,  but  was  defeated  by 
Thomas  Carlin,  Democrat.  State  affairs  were  hardly  brought 
in  issue  in  the  general  canvass.  A  majority  of  the  Legisla- 
ture, at  the  first  session,  was  opposed  to  the  repeal  or  modifi- 
cation of  the  public  works  system,  but  voted  additional 
expenditures  thereon,  to  the  amount  of  $800,000.  At  a 
special  session,  however,  this  body  repealed  the  system,  and 
made  provisions  for  its  gradual  winding  up.  Mr.  Lincoln,  as 
the  Whig  leader,  had  his  position  on  the  Committee  on 
Finance,  and  exerted  his  influence  in  favor  of  wise  counsels, 


60  LIPE  OP  ABRAHAM   LINCOLN. 

and  such  a  determination  of  affairs  as  would  best  remedy  the 
evils  resulting  from  this  loose  Democratic  tampering  with 
measures  of  Whig  policy. 

Aside  from  these  financial  questions,  there  were  few  matters 
of  any  general  interest  before  this  Legislature.  This  session 
of  1838-9  was  the  last  held  at  Vandalia.  A  special  session  in 
1839,  inaugurated  the  new  state-house  at  Springfield.  The 
great  contest  of  1840  was  already  casting  its  shadow  before, 
and  began  chiefly  to  engross  the  attention  of  persons  in  polit- 
ical life.  Whig  candidates  for  electors  were  nominated  in 
November  of  this  year,  and  discussions  commenced  in  earnest. 
Mr.  Lincoln  who  was  deemed  one  of  the  strongest  champions 
of  the  cause  before  the  people,  was  repeatedly  called  on  to 
encounter  the  foremost  advocates  of  the  Democratic  party — 
what  no  man  in  Illinois,  it  was  now  manifest,  could  do  more 
successfully. 

For  the  fourth  time  in  succession,  Mr.  Lincoln  was  elected 
to  the  Legislature  in  1840 — the  last  election  to  that  position 
which  he  woulo1  consent  to  accept  from  his  strongly  attached 
constituents  of  Sangamon  county.  In  this  Legislature,  like 
all  previous  ones  in  which  he  had  served,  the  Democrats 
had  a  majority  in  both  branches,  and  the  responsibility  of  all 
legislation  was  with  them.  It  was  at  this  session  that,  to  over- 
rule a  decision  unacceptable  to  Democrats,  and  for  political 
and  personal  reasons  of  common  notoriety  in  Illinois,  the 
judicial  system  of  the  State  was  changed,  at  the  instigation 
of  Douglas,  against  the  judgment  of  many  leading  Dem- 
ocrats, and  five  new  judges,  of  whom  Mr.  Douglas  was  one, 
were  added  to  the  Supreme  Court  of  the  State.  This  is  now 
generally  felt  to  be  a  measure  conferring  little  credit  upon 
those  concerned  in  concocting  the  scheme,  and  was  never 
heartily  approved  by  the  people. 

There  was  but  one  session  during  the  two  years  for  which 
this  Legislature  was  chosen.  Mr.  Lincoln,  as  in  the  last,  was 
the  acknowledged  Whig  leader,  and  the  candidate  of  his  party 
for  Speaker.  First  elected  at  twenty-five,  he  had  continued 
in  office  without  interruption  so  long  as  his  inclination  allowed, 
and  until,  by  his  uniform  courtesy  and  kindness  of  manners, 


LIFE  OF   ABRAHAM    LINCOLN.  61 

his  marked  ability,  and  his  straight-forward  integrity,  he  had 
won  an  enviable  repute  throughout  the  State,  and  was  vir- 
tually, when  but  a  little  past  thirty,  placed  at  the  head  of  his 
party  in  Illinois. 

Begun  in  comparative  obscurity,  and  without  any  adven- 
titious aids  in  its  progress,  this  period  of  his  life,  at  its 
termination,  had  brought  him  to  a  position  where  he  was 
secure  in  the  confidence  of  the  people,  and  prepared,  in  due 
time,  to  enter  upon  a  more  enlarged  and  brilliant  career,  as 
a  national  statesman.  His  fame  as  a  close  and  convincing 
debater  was  established.  His  native  talent  as  an  orator  had 
at  once  been  demonstrated  and  disciplined.  His  zeal  and 
earnestness  in  behalf  of  a  party  whose  principles  he  believed 
to  be  right,  had  rallied  strong  troops  of  political  friends  about 
him,  while  his  unfeigned  modesty  and  his  unpretending  and 
simple  bearing,  in  marked  contrast  with  that  of  so  many  impe- 
rious leaders,  had  won  him  general  and  lasting  esteem.  He 
preferred  no  claim  as  a  partizan,  and  showed  no  overweening 
anxiety  to  advance  himself,  but  was  always  a  disinterested  and 
generous  co-worker  with  his  associates,  only  ready  to  accept 
the  post  of  honor  and  of  responsibility,  when  it  was  clearly 
their  will,  and  satisfactory  to  the  people  whose  interests  were 
involved.  At  the  close  of  this  period,  with  scarcely  any  con- 
sciousness of  the  fact  himself,  and  with  no  noisy  demonstra- 
tions or  flashy  ostentation  in  his  behalf  from  his  friends,  he 
was  really  one  of  the  foremost  political  men  in  the  State.  A 
keen  observer  might  even  then  have  predicted  a  great  future 
for  the  "  Sangamon  Chief,"  as  people  have  been  wont  to  call 
him ;  and  only  such  an  observer,  perhaps,  would  then  have 
adequately  estimated  his  real  power  as  a  natural  orator,  a 
sagacious  statesman,  and  a  gallant  TRIBUNE  OF  THE  PEOPLE. 


LIFE   OF    ABRAHAM    LINCOLN. 


CHAPTER  VI. 

HIS   SETTLEMENT   AT   SPRINGFIELD   AND   HIS   MAR- 
RIAGE.— 1837-42. 

Mr.  Lincoln's  Law  Studies. — His  Perseverance  under  Adverse  Circum- 
stances.—Licensed  to  Practice  in  1836.— His  Progress  in  his  Pro- 
fession.— His  Qualities  as  an  Advocate. — A  Romantic  and  Exciting 
Incident  in  his  Practice.— A  Reminiscence  of  his  Early  Life. — He 
Renders  a  Material  Service  to  the  Family  of  an  Old  Friend. — Secures 
an  Acquittal  in  a  Murder  Case,  in  Spite  of  a  Strong  Popular  Preju- 
dice Unjustly  Excited  Against  the  Prisoner. — An  Affecting  Scene. — 
Mr.  Lincoln  Removes  to  Springfield  in  1837. — Devotes  Himself  to  his 
Profession,  Giving  up  Political  Life.— His  Marriage.— The  Family  of 
Mrs.  Lincohi. — Fortunate  Domestic  Relations. — His  Children  and  their 
Education. — Denominational  Tendencies. — Four  Dears'  Retirement. 

DURING  the  time  of  his  service  in  the  Legislature,  Mr. 
Lincoln  was  busily  engaged  in  mastering  the  profession  of 
law.  This  he  was,  indeed,  compelled  to  do  somewhat  at  inter- 
vals, and  with  many  disadvantages,  from  the  necessity  he  was 
under  to  support  himself  meanwhile  by  his  own  labor,  to  say 
nothing  of  the  attention  he  was  compelled  to  give  to  politics, 
by  the  position  he  had  accepted.  Nothing,  however,  could  pre- 
vent his  consummating  his  purpose.  He  completed  his  prelim- 
inary studies,  and  was  licensed  to  practice  in  1836.  His  repu- 
tation was  now  such  that  he  found  a  good  amount  of  business, 
and  began  to  rise  to  the  front  rank  in  his  profession.  He 
was  a  most  effective  jury  advocate,  and  manifested  a  ready 
perception  and  a  sound  judgment  of  the  turning  legal  points 
of  a  case.  His  clear,  practical  sense,  and  his  skill  in  homely 
or  humorous  illustration,  were  noticeable  traits  in  his  argu- 
ments. The  graces  and  the  cold  artificialities  of  a  polished 
rhetoric,  he  certainly  had  not,  nor  did  he  aim  to  acquire  them. 
His  style  of  expression  and  the  cast  of  his  thought  were  his 
own,  having  all  the  native  force  of  a  genuine  originality. 


LIFE   OF    ABRAHAM    LINCOLN.  63 

The  following  incident,  of  which  the  narration  is  believed  to  be 
substantially  accurate,  is  from  the  pen  of  one  who  professes  to 
write  from  personal  knowledge.  It  is  given  in  this  connection, 
as  at  once  illustrating  the  earlier  struggles  of  Mr.  Lincoln  in 
acquiring  his  profession,  the  character  of  his  forensic  efforts, 
and  the  generous  gratitude  and  disinterestedness  of  his  nature  : 

Having  chosen  the  law  as  his  future  calling,  he  devoted 
himself  assiduously  to  its  mastery,  contending  at  every  step 
with  adverse  fortune.  During  this  period  of  study,  he  for  some 
time  found  a  home  under  the  hospitable  roof  of  one  Arm- 
strong, a  farmer,  who  lived  in  a  log  house  some  eight  miles 
from  the  village  of  Petersburg,  in  Menard  county.  Here, 
young  Lincoln  would  master  his  lessons  by  the  firelight  of  the 
cabin,  and  then  walk  to  town  for  the  purpose  of  recitation. 
This  man  Armstrong  was  himself  poor,  but  he  saw  the  genius 
struggling  in  the  young  student,  and  opened  to  him  his  rude 
home,  and  bid  him  welcome  to  his  coarjMrfare.  How  Lincoln 
graduated  with  promise — how  he  has  more  than  fulfilled  that 
promise — how  honorably  he  acquitted  himself,  alike  on  the 
battle-field,  in  defending  our  border  settlements  against  the 
ravages  of  savage  foes,  and  in  the  halls  of  our  national  legis- 
lature, are  matters  of  history,  and  need  no  repetition  here. 
But  one  little  incident,  of  a  more  private  nature,  standing  as 
it  does  as  a  sort  of  sequel  to  some  things  already  alluded  to,  I 
deem  worthy  of  record.  Some  few  years  since,  the  oldest  son 
of  Mr.  Lincoln's  old  friend  Armstrong,  the  chief  support  of 
his  widowed  mother — the  good  old  man  having  some  time 
previously  passed  from  earth — was  arrested  on  the  charge  of 
murder.  A  young  man  had  been  killed  during  a  riotous 
melee,  in  the  night-time,  at  a  camp-meeting,  and  one  of  his 
associates  stated  that  the  death-wound  was  inflicted  by  young 
Armstrong.  A  preliminary  examination  was  gone  into,  at 
which  the  accuser  testified  so  positively,  that  there  seemed  no 
doubt  of  the  guilt  of  the  prisoner,  and  therefore  he  was  held 
for  trial.  As  is  too  often  the  case,  the  bloody  act  caused  an 
undue  degree  of  excitement  in  the  public  mind.  Every  im- 
proper incident  in  the  life  of  the  prisoner — each  act  which  bore 
the  least  semblance  of  rowdyism — each  schoolboy  quarrel — 
was  suddenly  remembered  and  magnified,  until  they  pictured 
him  as  a  fiend  of  the  most  horrid  hue.  As  these  rumors 
spread  abroad,  they  were  received  as  gospel  truth,  and  a  fever- 
ish desire  for  vengeance  seized  upon  the  infatuated  populace, 
while  only  prison-bars  prevented  a  horrible  death  at  the 


64  LIFE   OF   ABRAHAM    LINCOLN. 

hands  of  a  mob.  The  events  were  heralded  in  the  news- 
papers, painted  in  highest  colors,  accompanied  by  rejoicing 
over  the  certainty  of  punishment  being  meted  out  to  the  guilty 
party.  The  prisoner,  overwhelmed  by  the  circumstances  in 
which  he  found  himself  placed,  fell  into  a  melancholy  condi- 
tion, bordering  upon  despair;  and  the  widowed  mother,  look- 
ing through  her  tears,  saw  no  cause  for  hope  from  earthly  aid. 

At  this  juncture,  the  widow  received  a  letter  from  Mr. 
Lincoln,  volunteering  his  services  in  an  effort  to  save  the 
youth  from  the  impending  stroke.  Gladly  was  his  aid  accepted, 
although  it  seemed  impossible  for  even  his  sagacity  to  prevail 
in  such  a  desperate  case ;  but  the  heart  of  the  attorney  was  in 
his  work,  and  he  set  about  it  with  a  will  that  knew  no  such 
word  as  fail.  Feeling  that  the  poisoned  condition  of  the  pub- 
lic mind  was  such  as  to  preclude  the  possibility  of  impannel- 
ing  an  impartial  jury  in  the  court  having  jurisdiction,  he 
procured  a  change  of  venue,  and  a  postponement  of  the  trial. 
He  then  went  studiously  to  work  unraveling  the  history  of  the 
case,  and  satisfied  himself  that  his  client  was  the  victim  of 
malice,  and  that  the  statements  of  the  accuser  were  a  tissue 
of  falsehoods.  When  the  trial  was  called  on,  the  prisoner, 
pale  and  emaciated,  with  hopelessness  written  on  every  feature. 
and  accompanied  by  his  half-hoping,  half-despairing  mother — 
whose  only  hope  was  in  a  mother's  belief  of  her  son's  inno- 
cence, in  the  justice  of  the  God  she  worshiped,  and  in  the 
noble  counsel,  who,  without  hope  of  fee  or  reward  upon  earth, 
had  undertaken  the  cause — took  his  seat  in  the  prisoner's  box, 
and  with  a  "  stony  firmness  "  listened  to  the  reading  of  the 
indictment. 

Lincoln  sat  quietly  by,  while  the  large  auditory  looked  on 
him  as  though  wondering  what  he  could  say  in  defense  of  one 
whose  guilt  they  regarded  as  certain.  The  examination  of  the 
witnesses  for  the  State  was  begun,  and  a  well-arranged  mass  of 
evidence,  circumstantial  and  positive,  was  introduced,  which 
seemed  to  impale  the  prisoner  beyond  the  possibility  of  extri- 
cation. The  counsel  for  the  defense  propounded  but  few 
questions,  and  those  of  a  character  which  excited  no  uneasi- 
ness on  t  the  part  of  the  prosecutor — merely,  in  most  cases, 
requiring  the  main  witness  to  be  definite  as  to  time  and  place. 
When  the  evidence  of  the  prosecution  was  ended,  Lincoln 
introduced  a  few  witnesses  to  remove  some  erroneous  impres- 
sions in  regard  to  the  previous  character  of  his  client,  who, 
though  somewhat  rowdyish,  had  never  been  known  to  com- 
mit a  vicious  act;  and  to  show  that  a  greater  degree  of  ill- 
feeing  existed  between  the  accuser  and  the  accused,  than  the 


LIFE   OP   ABRAHAM    LINCOLN.  65 

1 — . 

accused  and  the  deceased.  The  prosecutor  felt  that  the  case 
was  a  clear  one,  and  his  opening  speech  was  brief  and  format. 
Lincoln  arose,  while  a  deathly  silence  pervaded  the  vast  audi- 
ence, and  in  a  clear  but  moderate  tone  began  his  argument. 
Slowly  and  carefully  he  reviewed  the  testimony,  pointing  out 
the  hitherto  unobserved  discrepancies  in  the  statements  of  the 
principal  witness.  That  which  had  seemed  plain  and  plausible, 
he  made  to  appear  crooked  as  a  serpent's  path.  The  witness 
had  stated  that  the  affair  took  place  at  a  certain  hour  in  the 
evening,  and  that,  by  the  aid  of  the  brightly  shining  moon,  ho 
saw  the  prisoner  inflict  the  death  blow  with  a  slung-shot.  Mr. 
Lincoln  showed,  that  at  the  hour  referred  to,  the  moon  had 
not  yet  appeared  above  the  horizon,  and  consequently  the 
whole  talc  was  a  fabrication.  An  almost  instantaneous  change 
seemed  to  have  been  wrought  in  the  minds  of  his  auditors,  and 
the  verdict  of  "  not  guilty  "  was  at  the  end  of  every  tongue. 
But  the  advocate  was  not  content  with  this  intellectual  achieve- 
ment. His  whole  being  had  for  months  been  bound  up  in 
this  work  of  gratitude  and  mercy,  and,  as  the  lava  of  the  over- 
charged crater  bursts  from  its  imprisonment,  so  great  thoughts 
and  burning  words  leaped  forth  from  the  soul  of  the  eloquent 
Lincoln.  He  drew  a  picture  of  the  perjurer,  so  horrid  and 
ghastly  that  the  accuser  could  sit  under  it  no  longer,  but 
reeled  and  staggered  from  the  court-room,  while  the  audience 
fancied  they  could  see  the  brand  upon  his  brow.  Then  in 
words  of  thrilling  pathos,  Lincoln  appealed  to  the  jurors,  as 
fathers  of  sons  who  might  become  fatherless,  and  as  husbands 
of  wives  who  might  be  widowed,  to  yield  to  no  previous  impres- 
sions, no  ill-founded  prejudice,  but  to  do  his  client  justice ; 
and  as  he  alluded  to  the  debt  of  gratitude  which  he  owed  the 
boy's  sire,  tears  were  seen  to  fall  from  many  eyes  unused  to 
weep.  It  was  near  night  when  he  concluded  by  saying,  that 
if  justice  was  done — as  he  believed  it  would  be — before  the 
sun  should  set  it  would  shine  upon  his  client,  a  freeman.  The 
jury  retired,  and  the  court  adjourned  for  the  day.  Half  an 
hour  had  not  elapsed,  when,  as  the  officers  of  the  court  and  the 
volunteer  attorney  sat  at  the  tea-table  of  their  hotel,  a  messen- 
ger announced  that  the  jury  had  returned  to  their  seats.  All 
repaired  immediately  to  the  court-house,  and  while  the  prisoner 
was  being  brought  from  the  jail,  the  court-room  was  filled  to 
overflowing  with  citizens  of  the  town.  When  the  prisoner  and 
his  mother  entered,  silence  reigned  as  completely  as  though 
the  house  were  empty.  The  foreman  of  the  jury,  in  answer  to 
the  usual  inquiry  from  the  court,  delivered  the  verdict  of  "  Not 
Guilty  !  "  The  widow  dropped  into  the  arms  of  her  son,  who 
lifted  her  up,  and  told  her  to  look  upon  him  as  before,  free 
6 


66  LIFE   OF   ABRAHAM    LINCOLN. 

and  innocent.  Then,  with  the  words,  "  Where  is  Mr.  Lin- 
coln ?  "  he  rushed  across  the  room  and  grasped  the  hand  of  hia 
deliverer,  while  his  heart  was  too  full  for  utterance.  Lincoln 
turned  his  eyes  toward  the  west,  where  the  sun  still  lingered 
in  view,  and  then,  turning  to  the  youth,  said,  "  It  is  not  yet 
sundown,  and  you  are  free."  I  confess  that  my  cheeks  were 
not  wholly  uawet  by  tears,  and  I  turned  from  the  affecting 
scene.  As  I  cast  a  glance  behind,  I  saw  Abraham  Lincoln 
obeying  the  divine  injunction,  by  comforting  the  widowed  and 
the  fatherless. 

On  becoming  well  established  in  his  profession,  Mr.  Lincoln 
took  up  his  permanent  residence  at  Springfield,  the  county 
seat  of  Sangarnon  county.  This  occurred  in  the  spring  imme- 
diately following  the  passage  of  the  act  removing  the  State 
capitol  to  that  place,  but  more  than  two  years  before  it  was  to 
go  into  effect.  The  date  at  which  he  became  settled  in  Spring- 
field, which  has  ever  since  been  the  place  of  his  residence, 
was  April  15,  1837. 

For  several  years  after  this  removal,  Mr.  Lincoln  remained  a 
bachelor,  and  was  an  inmate  of  the  family  of  the  Hon.  William 
Butler,  the  present  Treasurer  of  the  State.  For  three  or  four 
years  he  continued  to  represent  his  county  in  the  Legislature, 
but  after  1840,  he  refused  further  public  service,  with  a  view 
to  the  exclusive  pursuit  of  his  profession,  the  highest  success 
in  which  he  could  not  hope  to  obtain  while  giving  so  much  of 
his  time,  as  had  been  hitherto  required  of  him,  to  political 
affairs. 

On  the  4th  of  November,  1842,  Mr.  Lincoln  was  married 
to  Miss  MARY  TODD,  daughter  of  the  Hon.  Kobert  S.  Todd,  of 
Lexington,  Kentucky.  This  lady  is  one  of  four  sisters,  tho 
eldest  of  whom  had  previously  married  the  Hon.  Ninian  W. 
Edwards,  and  settled  at  Springfield.  All  have  since  married, 
and  reside  in  the  same  town.  No  man  was  ever  more  for- 
tunate in  his  domestic  relations  than  Mr.  Lincoln  has  been  ; 
the  accomplished  manners  and  social  tastes  of  his  wife,  which 
make  her  a  general  favorite,  being  not  less  conspicuous  than 
her  devotion  to  her  family,  and  her  care  to  render  their  home 
cheerful  and  happy,  as  well  as  cordially  hospitable  to  all. 
They  have  three  children  —  boys;  the  eldest  of  whom  is  in 


LITE  OP  ABRAHAM  LINCOLN.  67 

his  seventeenth  year,  and  the  others  respectively  nine  and 
seven.  Another  boy,  the  second  child,  died  when  about  four 
years  old.  The  surviving  sons  have  been  well  trained,  and 
their  education  very  particularly  cared  for.  The  oldest  has 
been  for  some  time  past  fitting  for  college  at  Exeter  Academy, 
New  Hampshire,  and  enters  Harvard  University  the  present 
season. 

It  is  proper  to  add  here  that  Mrs.  Lincoln  is  a  Presbyterian 
by  education  and  profession  (two  of  her  sisters  are  Episcopa- 
lians), and  that  her  husband,  though  not  a  member,  is  a  liberal 
supporter  of  the  church  to  which  she  belongs.  It  should  fur- 
ther be  stated  that  the  Sunday-School,  and  other  benevolent 
enterprises  associated  with  these  church  relations,  find  in  him 
a  constant  friend. 

In  this  quiet  domestic  happiness,  and  in  the  active  practice 
of  his  profession,  with  its  round  of  ordinary  duties,  and  with  its 
exceptional  cases  of  a  more  general  public  interest,  Mr.  Lin- 
coln disappears  for  the  time  from  political  life.  Its  peculiar 
excitements,  indeed,  were  not  foreign  to  the  stirring  and 
adventurous  nature  which,  as  we  have  seen,  was  his  by  inher- 
itance. Nor  could  the  people,  and  the  party  of  which  he  was 
BO  commanding  a  leader,  long  consent  to  his  retirement.  Yet 
such  was  his  prudent  purpose  —  now  especially,  with  a  family 
to  care  for ;  and  to  this  he  adhered,  with  only  occasional 
exceptions,  until,  four  years  after  his  marriage,  he  was  elected 
to  Congress.  ^ 


LIFE   OF   ABRAHAM    LINCOLN. 


CHAPTER  VII. 

CAKVASSES    OP    1844    AND    1846. 

Mr.  Lincoln's  Devotion  to  Henry  Clay.— The  Presidential  Nomina- 
tions of  1844.— The  Campaign  in  Illinois.— Mr.  Lincoln  Makes  an 
Active  Canvass  for  Clay. — John  Calboun  the  leading  Polk  Elector. — 
The  Tariff  Issue  Thoroughly  Discussed. — Method  of  Conducting  the 
Canvass. — The  Whigs  of  Illinois  in  a  Hopeless  Minority. — Mr. 
Lincoln's  Reputation  as  a  Whig  Champion. — Renders  Efficient  Service 
in  Indiana. — Mr.  Clay's  Defeat  and  the  Consequences. — Mr.  Lincoln  a 
Candidate  for  Congressman  in  1846. — President  Polk's  Administra- 
tion.— Condition  of  the  Country. — Texas  Annexation,  the  Mexican 
War  and  the  Tariff.— Political  Character  of  the  Springfield  District. — 
Mr.  Lincoln  Elected  by  an  Unprecedented  Majority. — His  Personal 
Popularity  Demonstrated. 

ME.  LINCOLN  had,  from  his  first  entrance  into  political  life, 
recognized  Henrj  Clay  as  his  great  leader  and  instructor  in 
statesmanship.  His  reverence  and  attachment  for  the  great 
Kentuckian  had  been  unlimited  and  enthusiastic.  When,  there- 
fore, Mr.  Clay  had  been  nominated  by  acclamation  for  the  Presi- 
dency by  the  National  Whig  Convention,  held  at  Baltimore  on 
the  1st  of  May,  1844,  and  when  a  Democrat  of  the  most  offen- 
sive school  was  put  in  nomination  against  him,  Mr.  Lincoln 
yielded  to  the  demands  of  the  Whigs  of  Illinois,  and,  for  the 
first  time  breaking  over  the  restrictions  he  had  placed  upon 
himself  in  regard  to  the  exclusive  pursuit  of  his  profession,  he 
consented  to  take  a  leading  position  in  canvassing  the  State 
as  an  elector.  In  a  State  that  had  stood  unshaken  in  its  Dem- 
ocratic position,  while  so  many  others  had  been  revolutionized 
during  the  great  political  tempest  of  1840,  there  was,  of 
course,  no  hope  of  immediate  success.  It  was  deemed  an 
opportunity  not  to  be  lost,  however,  for  maintaining  and 
strengthening  the  Whig  organization,  and  a  spirited  canvass 
was  consequently  made. 


LIFE  OP  ABRAHAM    LINCOLN.  69 

On  the  Democratic  side,  John  Calhoun,  then  one  of  the 
strongest  and  most  popular  speakers  of  that  party,  and  in 
many  respects  quite  another  man  than  he  subsequently  became, 
held  the  laboring  oar  for  Mr.  Polk.  Mr.  Lincoln  traversed 
various  parts  of  the  State,  attracting  large  audiences  and  keep- 
ing their  fixed  attention  for  hours,  as  he  held  up  to  admiration 
the  character  and  doctrines  of  Henry  Clay,  and  contrasted  them 
with  those  of  his  Presidential  opponent.  On  the  tariff  question, 
which  was  the  chief  issue  in  Illinois  that  year,  he  was  particu- 
larly elaborate,  strongly  enforcing  the  great  principles  on  which 
the  protective  system,  as  maintained  by  Clay,  was  based.  He 
had  always  a  fund  of  anecdote  and  illustration,  with  which  to 
relieve  his  close  logical  disquisitions,  and  to  elucidate  and 
enforce  his  views  in  a  manner  perfectly  intelligible,  as  well  as 
pleasing  to  all  classes  of  hearers.  This  campaign,  so  barren 
in  immediate  results,  as  it  was  expected  to  be  in  Illinois,  was 
not  without  its  excellent  fruits,  ultimately,  to  the  party.  It 
had  also  the  effect  of  establishing  Mr.  Lincoln's  reputation  as 
a  political  orator,  on  a  still  broader  and  more  permanent  foun- 
dation. From  this  time  forward  he  was  widely  known  as  one 
of  the  soundest  and  most  effective  of  Whig  champions  in  the 
West 

After  doing  in  Illinois  all  that  could  have  been  required  of 
one  man,  had  this  arena  been  of  the  most  promising  descrip- 
tion, Mr.  Lincoln  crossed  the  Wabash,  at  the  desire  of  the 
people  of  his  former  State,  and  contributed  largely  toward 
turning  the  tide  of  battle  for  Clay  in  that  really  hopeful  field. 
Here  he  worked  most  efficiently,  losing  no  opportunity  up  to 
the  very  eve  of  the  election.  In  Indiana,  those  efforts  have 
not  been  forgotten,  but  will  be  freshly  called  to  mind,  at 
this  juncture,  by  great  numbers  of  Old  Whigs  in  Southern 
Indiana. 

If  any  event,  more  heartily  than  another,  could  have  dis- 
couraged Mr.  Lincoln  from  again  participating  in  political 
affairs,  it  was  the  disastrous  result,  in  the  nation  at  large,  of 
this  canvass  of  1844.  He  felt  it  more  keenly  than  he  could 
have  done  if  it  were  a  mere  personal  reverse.  Mr.  Clay  was 
defeated,  contrary  to  the  ardent  hopes,  and  even  expectations 


70  LIFE  OP  ABRAHAM    LINCOLN. 

of  his  friends,  down  to  the  last  moment.  With  the  causes  and  the 
consequences  which  followed  that  event,  the  impartial  historian, 
at  some  future  day,  can  more  candidly  and  philosophically 
speak  than  any  of  those  who  shared  in  this  disappointment. 
That  the  election  of  Mr.  Polk  over  Mr.  Clay,  made  the  subse- 
quent political  history  of  our  country  far  different  from  what 
it  would  have  been  with  the  opposite  result,  all  will  concede. 

Two  years  later,  in  1846,  Mr.  Lincoln  was  induced  to  accept 
the  Whig  nomination  for  Congress  in  the  Sangamon  District. 
Tho  annexation  of  Texas  had,  in  the  mean  time,  been  con- 
summated. The  Mexican  war  had  been  begun,  and  was  still 
in  progress.  The  Whig  tariff  of  1842  had  just  been  repealed. 
This  latter  event  had  been  accomplished  in  the  Senate  by  the 
casting  vote  of  Mr.  DALLAS,  the  Vice  President,  and  with  the 
official  approval  of  Mr.  POLK,  the  President,  both  of  whom  had 
been  elected  by  the  aid  of  Pennsylvania,  and  had  carried  the 
vote  of  that  State  solely  by  being  passed  off  upon  the  people 
as  favoring  the  maintenance  of  the  tariff  which  they  thus 
destroyed. 

The  Springfield  district  had  given  Mr.  Clay  a  majority  of 
914  in  1844,  on  the  most  thorough  canvass.  It  gave  Mr.  Lin- 
coln a  majority  of  1,511,  which  was  entirely  unprecedented^ 
and  has  been  unequaled  by  that  given  there  for  any  opposition 
candidate,  for  any  office  since.  The  nearest  approach  was  in 
1848,  when  Gen.  Taylor,  on  a  much  fuller  vote  than  that  of 
1846,  and  receiving  the  votes  of  numerous  returned  Mexican 
volunteers,  of  Democratic  faith,  and  who  had  served  under 
him  in  Mexico,  obtained  a  majority  of  1,501.  In  the  same 
year  (1848)  Mr.  Logan,  the  popular  Whig  candidate,  was 
beaten  by  Col.  Thomas  L.  Harris,  Democrat,  by  106  majority. 
There  was  no  good  reason  to  doubt,  in  advance,  that  Mr.  Lincoln 
would  have  been  elected  by  a  handsome  majority,  had  he  con- 
sented to  run  for  another  term,  nor  has  it  been  questionable, 
since  the  result  became  known,  that  the  strong  personal 
popularity  of  Mr.  Lincoln  would  have  saved  the  district.  It 
was  redeemed  by  Richard  Yates  in  1850,  who  carried  his 
election  by  less  than  half  the  majority  (754)  which  Mr.  Lin- 
coln had  received  in  1846.  The  district,  since  its  recoustruc- 


LIFE   OP   ABRAHAM   LINCOLN.  71 

tion,  following  the  census  of  1850,  has  been  Democratic. 
Under  all  the  circumstances,  therefore,  the  vote  for  Mr.  Lin- 
coln was  a  remarkable  one,  showing  that  he  possessed  a  rare 
degree  of  strength  with  the  people.  His  earnest  sincerity  of 
manner  always  strongly  impressed  those  whom  he  addressed. 
They  knew  him  to  be  a  man  of  strong  moral  convictions.  An 
opponent  intended  a  sneer  at  this  trait  (of  which  he  him- 
self was  never  suspected),  when  he  called  Mr.  Lincoln 
"conscientious." 

There  was  a  universal  confidence  in  his  honest  integrity, 
such  as  has  been  rarely  extended  to  men  so  prominent  in 
political  life.  The  longer  he  was  tried  as  a  public  servant,  the 
more  his  constituents  became  attached  to  him.  A  popularity 
thus  thoroughly  grounded  is  not  to  be  destroyed  by  the  breezes 
of  momentary  passion  or  prejudice,  or  materially  affected  by 
any  idle  fickleness  of  the  populace. 


72  LIFE   OP  ABRAHAM    LINCOLN. 


CHAPTER  VIII. 

MR.   LINCOLN  IN  CONGRESS. — 1847-49. 

The  Thirtieth  Congress — Its  Political  Character — The  Democracy 
in  a  Minority  in  the  House. — Robert  C.  Winthrop  Elected  Speaker. — 
Distinguished  Members  in  both  Houses. — Mr.  Lincoln  takes  his  Seat 
as  a  Member  of  the  House,  and  Mr.  Douglas  for  the  first  time  as  a 
Member  of  the  Senate,  at  the  same  Session. — Mr.  Lincoln's  Congres- 
sional Record,  thatof  a  Clay  and  Webster  Whig.— The  Mexican  War. — 
Mr.  Lincoln's  Views  on  the  Subject. — Misrepresentations. — Not  an 
Available  Issue  for  Mr.  Lincoln's  Opponents. — His  Resolutions  of 
Inquiry  in  regard  to  the  Origin  of  the  War. — Mr.  Richardson's  Reso- 
lutions Indorsing  the  Administration. — Mr.  Hudson's  Resolutions  for 
an  Immediate  Discontinuance  of  the  War. — Voted  Against  by  Mr. 
Lincoln. — Resolutions  of  Thanks  to  Gen.  Taylor. — Mr.  Henley's 
Amendment,  and  Mr.  Ashmun's  Addition  thereto. — Resolutions 
Adopted  without  Amendment. — Mr.  Lincoln's  First  Speech  in  Con- 
gress, on  the  Mexican  War. — Mr.  Lincoln  on  Internal  Improvements. — 
A  Characteristic  Campaign  Speech — Mr.  Lincoln  on  the  Nomination 
of  Gen.  Taylor ;  the  Veto  Power ;  National  Issues ;  President  and 
People;  the  Wilmot  Proviso;  Platforms;  Democratic  Sympathy  for 
Clay  ;  Military  Heroes  and  Exploits ;  Cass  a  Progressive ;  Extra  Pay  ; 
the  Whigs  and  the  Mexican  War;  Democratic  Divisions. — Close  of  the 
Session. — Mr.  Lincoln  on  the  Stump. — Gen.  Taylor's  Election. — Second 
Session  of  the  Thirtieth  Congress. — Slavery  in  the  District  of  Colum- 
bia.— The  Public  Lands. — Mr.  Lincoln  as  a  Congressman. — He  Retires 
to  Private  Life. 

MR.  LINCOLN  took  his  seat  in  the  National  House  of  Rep- 
resentatives on  the  6th  day  of  December,  1847,  the  date  of  the 
opening  of  the  Thirtieth  Congress.  In  many  respects  this 
Congress  was  a  memorable  one.  That  which  preceded,  elected 
at  the  same  time  Mr.  Polk  was  chosen  to  the  Presidency,  had 
been  strongly  Democratic  in  both  branches.  The  policy  of  the 
Administration,  however,  had  been  such,  during  the  first  two 
years  of  its  existence,  that  a  great  popular  reaction  had  followed. 


LIFE   OB'   ABRAHAM    LINCOLN.  73 

The  present  House  contained  but  one  hundred  and  ten  Demo- 
crats, while  the  remaining  one  hundred  and  eighteen,  with  the 
exception  of  a  single  Native  American  from  Philadelphia,  were 
nearly  all  Whigs,  the  balance  being  "  Free-Soil  men-,"  who 
mostly  co-operated  with  them.  Of  these,  only  Messrs.  Giddings, 
Tuck  and  Palfrey  refused  to  vote  for  the  Hon.  Robert  C. 
Winthrop  for  Speaker,  who  was  elected  on  the  third  ballot. 

Among  the  members  of  the  House,  on  the  Whig  side,  were 
John  Quincy  Adams  (who  died  during  the  first  session,  and 
was  succeeded  by  Horace  Mann),  and  George  Ashmun  of  Mas- 
sachusetts, Washington  Hunt  of  New  York,  Jacob  Collamer 
and  George  P.  Marsh  of  Vermont,  Truman  Smith  of  Connecti- 
cut, Joseph  R.  Ingersoll  and  James  Pollock  of  Pennsylvania, 
John  M.  Botts  and  William  L.  Goggin  of  Virginia,  Alexander 
H.  Stephens,  Robert  Toombs  and  Thomas  Butler  King  of 
Georgia,  Henry  W.  Hilliard  of  Alabama,  Samuel  F.  Vinton 
and  Robert  C.  Schenck  of  Ohio,  John  B.  Thompson  and 
Charles  S.  Morehead  of  Kentucky,  Caleb  B.  Smith  and  Richard 
W.  Thompson  of  Indiana,  and  Meredith  P.  Gentry  of  Tennes- 
see. On  the  Democratic  side,  there  were  David  Wilmot  of 
Pennsylvania,  Robert  M.  McLane  of  Maryland,  James  Mc- 
Dowell and  Richard  K.  Meade  of  Virginia,  R.  Barnwell  Rhett 
of  South  Carolina,  Howell  Cobb  of  Georgia,  Albert  G.  Brown 
and  Jacob  Thompson  of  Mississippi,  Linn  Boyd  of  Kentucky, 
Andrew  Johnson,  George  W.  Jones  and  Frederick  P.  Stanton 
of  Tennessee,  James  S.  Greene  and  John  S.  Phelps  of  Mis- 
souri, and  Kinsley  S.  Bingham  of  Michigan.  Illinois  had 
seven  representatives,  of  whom  Mr.  Lincoln  was  the  only 
Whig.  His  Democratic  colleagues  were  John  A.  McClernand, 
Orlando  B.  Ficklin,  William  A.  Richardson,  Robert  Smith, 
Thomas  J.  Turner  and  John  Wentworth. 

At  this  session,  Stephen  A.  Douglas  took  his  seat  in  the 
Senate,  for  the  first  time,  having  been  elected  the  previous 
winter.  In  that  body  there  were  but  twenty-two  Opposition 
Senators,  against  thirty-six  Democrats.  Among  the  former 
were  Daniol  Webster,  Wm.  L.  Dayton,  S.  S.  Phelps,  John  M. 
Clayton,  Reverdy  Johnson,  Thomas  Corwin,  John  M.  Bcrrien, 
and  John  Ee.\.  On  the  Democratic  side  were  John  C.  Cal- 
7 


74  LIFE   OP   ABRAHAM   LINCOLN. 

houn,  Thomas  H.  Benton,  Daniel  S.  Dickinson,  Simon  Came- 
ron, Hannibal  Hamlin,  Sam  Houston,  R.  M.  T.  Hunter  and 
William  R.  King. 

Mr.  Lincoln  \vas  comparatively  quite  a  young  man  -when  he 
entered  the  House,  yet  he  was  early  recognized  as  one  of  the 
foremost  of  the  Western  men  on  the  floor.  His  Congressional 
record,  throughout,  is  that  of  a  Whig  of  those  days,  his  votes 
on  all  leading  national  subjects,  being  invariably  what  those  of 
Clay,  Webster  or  Corwin  would  have  been,  had  they  occupied 
his  place.  One  of  the  most  prominent  subjects  of  considera- 
tion before  the  Thirtieth  Congress,  very  naturally,  was  the 
then  existing  war  with  Mexico.  Mr.  Lincoln  was  one  of  those 
who  believed  the  Administration  had  not  properly  managed  its 
affairs  with  Mexico  at  the  outset,  and  who,  while  voting  sup- 
plies and  for  suitably  rewarding  our  gallant  soldiers  in  that  war, 
were  unwilling  to  be  forced,  by  any  trick  of  the  supporters  of 
the  Administration,  into  an  unqualified  indorsement  of  its 
course  in  this  affair,  from  beginning  to  end.  In  this  attitude, 
Mr.  Lincoln  did  not  stand  alone.  Such  was  the  position  of 
Whig  members  in  both  Houses,  without  exception.  Yet  his 
course  was  unscrupulously  misrepresented,  during  the  cam- 
paign of  1858,  and  not  improbably  will  be  again  during  the 
present  canvass.  That  many  men  who  now  support  Mr.  Liu- 
coin,  approved  the  President's  course  in  regard  to  the  Mexican 
War,  as  well  in  its  inception  as  in  its  management  from  firs* 
to  last,  is  not  improbable.  But  that  all  those  who,  at  that  time 
were  induced  by  their  party  relations,  to  sustain  the  Adminis- 
tration, at  heart  approved  the  method  in  which  hostilities  were 
precipitated,  or  felt  satisfied  that  the  most  commendable  mo- 
tives actuated  the  Government  in  its  course  toward  Mexico,  is 
certainly  not  true.  This  is  not  an  issue  that  the  present  Dem- 
ocratic party  need  be  anxious  to  resuscitate.  Still  less  will  the 
friends  of  Mr.  Lincoln  be  reluctant  to  have  his  record  on  this 
question  scrutinized  to  the  fullest  extent. 

Early  in  the  session,  after  listening  to  a  long  homily  on  the 
subject  from  the  President,  in  his  annual  message,  in  which 
the  gauntlet  was  defiantly  thrown  down  before  the  Opposition 
members,  and  after  his  colleague.  Mr.  Richardson,  had  pro> 


LIFE   OF   ABRAHAM   LINCOLN.  75 

posed  an  unqualified  indorsement  of  the  President's  views, 
Mr.  Lincoln  (December  22.  1847)  introduced  a  series  of  res- 
olutions of  inquiry  in  regard  to  the  origin  of  the  war.  They 
affirmed  nothing,  but  called  for  definite  official  information, 
such  as,  if  conclusively  furnished  in  detail,  and  found  to 
accord  with  the  general  asseverations  of  Mr.  Folk's  messages, 
would  have  set  him  and  his  administration  entirely  right 
before  the  country.  Either  such  information  was  accessible, 
or  the  repeated  statements  of  the  President  on  this  subject 
were  groundless,  and  his  allegations  mere  pretenses.  If  the 
Democratic  party  was  in  the  right,  it  had  not  the  least  occa- 
sion to  complain  of  this  procedure,  if  pressed  to  a  vote.  Mr. 
Lincoln's  preamble  and  resolutions  (copied  from  the  Congress- 
ional Globe,  first  session,  thirtieth  Congress,  page  64)  were  in 
the  following  words : 

WHEREAS,  The  President  of  the  United  States,  in  his  mes- 
sage of  May  11,  1846,  has  declared  that  "  the  Mexican  Gov- 
ernment not  only  refused  to  receive  him  [the  envoy  of  the 
United  States^,  or  listen  to  his  propositions,  but,  after  a  long 
continued  series  of  menaces,  has  at  last  invaded  our  territory, 
and  shed  the  blood  of  our  fellow-citizens  on  our  own  soil:  " 

And  again,  in  his  message  of  December  8, 1846,  that  "  We 
had  ample  cause  of  war  against  Mexico  long  before  the  break- 
ing out  of  hostilities  ;  but  even  then  we  forbore  to  take  redress 
into  our  own  hands  until  Mexico  herself  became  the  aggres- 
sor, by  invading  our  soil  in  hostile  array,  and  shedding  the 
blood  of  our  citizens  :  " 

And  yet  again,  in  his  message  of  December  7,  1847,  that 
"  The  Mexican  Government  refused  even  to  hear  the  terms  of 
adjustment  which  he  [our  minister  of  peace]  was  authorized 
to  propose,  and  finally,  under  wholly  unjustifiable  pretexts, 
involved  the  two  countries  in  war,  by  invading  the  territory 
of  the  State  of  Texas,  striking  the  first  blow,  and  shedding 
the  blood  of  our  citizens  on  our  own  soil: "  and, 

WHEREAS,  This  House  is  desirous  to  obtain  a  full  knowl- 
edge of  all  the  facts  which  go  to  establish  whether  the  partic- 
ular spot  on  which  the  blood  of  our  citizens  was  so  shed  was 
or  was  not  at  that  time  "our  own  soil:  "  therefore, 

Resolved  by  the  House  of  Representatives,  That  the  President 
of  the  United  States  be  respectfully  requested  to  inform  this 
House — 

1st.  Whether  the  spot  on  which  the  blood  of  our  citizens 


76  LIFE   OP   ABRAHAM   LINCOLN. 

was  shed,  as  in  his  messages  declared,  was  or  was  not  within 
the  territory  of  Spain,  at  least  after  the  treaty  of  1819,  until 
the  Mexican  revolution. 

2d.  Whether  that  spot  is  or  is  not  within  the  territory  which 
was  wrested  from  Spain  by  the  revolutionary  Government  of 
Mexico. 

3d.  Whether  that  spot  is  or  is  not  within  a  settlement  of 
people,  which  settlement  has  existed  ever  since  long  before  the 
Texas  revolution,  and  until  its  inhabitants  fled  before  the 
approach  of  the  United  States  army. 

4th.  Whether  that  settlement  is  or  is  not  isolated  from  any 
and  all  other  settlements  by  the  Gulf  and  the  Rio  Grande  on 
the  south  and  west,  and  by  wide  uninhabited  regions  on  the 
north  and  east. 

5th.  Whether  the  people  of  that  settlement,  or  a  majority 
of  them,  or  any  of  them,  have  ever  submitted  themselves  to 
the  government  or  laws  of  Texas  or  of  the  United  States,  by 
consent  or  by  compulsion,  either  by  accepting  office,  or  voting 
at  elections, -or  paying  tax,  or  serving  on  juries,  or  having 
process  served  upon  them,  or  in  any  other  way. 

6th.  Whether  the  people  of  that  settlement  did  or  did  not 
flee  from  the  approach  of  the  United  States  army,  leaving 
unprotected  their  homes  and  their  growing  crops,  before  the 
blood  was  shed,  as  in  the  messages  stated ;  and  whether  the 
first  blood,  so  shed,  was  or  was  not  shed  within  the  inclosure 
of  one  of  the  people  who  had  thus  fled  from  it. 

7th.  Whether  our  citizens,  whose  blood  was  shed,  as  in  his 
messages  declared,  were  or  were  not,  at  that  time,  armed  offi- 
cers and  soldiers,  sent  into  that  settlement  by  the  military 
order  of  the  President,  through  the  Secretary  of  War. 

8th.  Whether  the  military  force  of  the  United  States  was 
or  was  not  so  sent  into  that  settlement  after  General  Taylor 
had  more  than  once  intimated  to  the  War  Department  that, 
in  his  opinion,  no  such  movement  was  necessary  to  the  defense 
or  protection  of  Texas. 

These  resolutions  were  laid  over,  under  the  rule.  Many 
other  propositions,  embracing  the  substance  of  this  question 
were  also  brought  before  the  House,  besides  Mr.  Richardson's, 
which  ultimately  failed.  Mr.  Lincoln  did  not  call  up  his 
resolutions,  nor  were  they  ever  acted  upon  ;  but  he  commented 
on  them  in  a  speech  subsequently  made. 

On  the  third  day  of  January,  1848,  Mr.  Hudson,  of  Massa- 
chusetts, offered  a  resolution,  directing  the  Committee  on  Mil- 


LIFE  OF   ABRAHAM   LINCOLN.  77 

itary  Affairs  "  to  inquire  into  the  expediency  of  requesting 
the  President  of  the  United  States  to  withdraw  to  the  east 
hank  of  the  Rio  Grande  our  armies  now  in  Mexico,  and  to 
propose  to  the  Mexican  Government  forthwith  a  treaty  of 
peace  on  the  following  hasis,  namely :  That  we  relinquish  all 
claim  to  indemnity  for  the  expenses  of  the  war,  and  that  the 
boundary  between  the  United  States  and  Mexico  shall  be 
established  at  or  near  the  desert  between  the  Nueces  and  the 
Rio  Grande ;  that  Mexico  shall  be  held  to  pay  all  just  claims 
due  to  our  citizens  at  the  commencement  of  the  war,  and  that 
a  convention  shall  be  entered  into  by  the  two  nations  to  pro- 
vide for  the  liquidation  of  those  claims  and  the  mode  of 
payment." 

This  was  a  test  question  on  abandoning  the  war,  without 
any  material  result  accomplished.  Mr.  Lincoln  voted  with 
the  minority,  in  favor  of  laying  this  resolution  on  the  table. 
On  the  question  of  adopting  the  resolution,  which  was 
defeated,  yet  voted  for  by  John  Quincy  Adams,  Ashmun, 
Vinton,  and  many  others  on  the  Whig  side,  Mr.  Lincoln 
voted  in  the  negative.  (>See  Congressional  Globe,  first  session, 
3Qth  Congress,  page  94.) 

On  the  same  day,  almost  immediately  following  the  above 
action,  joint  resolutions  of  thanks  to  General  Zachary  Taylor 
and  our  troops  in  Mexico,  having  been  offered,  an  amendment 
was  proposed  by  Mr.  Henley,  a  Democratic  member  from 
Indiana,  as  an  adroit  political  maneuver,  by  which  it  was 
designed  to  secure  an  indorsement  of  the  war  from  the  "Whigs, 
or  a  refusal  of  the  vote  of  thanks.  He  moved  the  addition  of 
this  clause  to  the  resolutions:  "engaged,  as  they  were,  in 
defending  the  rights  and  honor  of  the  nation."  As  an  amend- 
ment to  the  amendment,  in  order  to  defeat  its  underhand  pur- 
pose, Mr.  Ashmun  promptly  moved  to  add  the  words :  "  In  a 
war  unnecessarily  and  unconstitutionally  begun  by  the  Presi- 
dent of  the  United  States."  Mr.  Lincoln  voted  for  Ashmun's 
amendment  to  Henley's  amendment.  So  also  did  Messrs. 
Clingman  and  Barringer,  of  North  Carolina  ;  A.  H.  Stephens, 
Robert  Toombs  and  Thomas  Butler  King,  of  Georgia  ;  Gog- 
gin,  of  Virginia;  Gentry,  of  Tennessee;  and  a  majority  of 


78  W»E  OF   ABRAHAM   LINCOLN. 

all  those  voting.  [See  page  95,  as  above.]  The  object 
intended,  of  defeating  the  brilliant  movement  of  Mr.  Henley, 
was  accomplished.  The  amendment,  as  amended,  was  not 
carried.  The  resolutions,  in  their  original  shape,  were  subse- 
quently reintroduced  by  Mr.  Stephens,  and  adopted  without 
opposition.  (Congressional  Globe,  page  304.) 

On  the  12th  day  of  January,  1848,  Mr.  Lincoln  expressed 
his  views,  frankly  and  fully,  in  regard  to  the  war  with  Mexico. 
It  was  the  first  speech  made  by  Mr.  Lincoln  in  Congress,  and 
is  subjoined  entire,  as  reported  in  the  Appendix  to  the  Con- 
gressional Globe  [1st  session,  30th  Congress,  page  93]  : 

ME.  LINCOLN'S  SPEECH  OK  THE  MEXICAN  WAR. 
(In  Committee  of  tke  Whole  House,  January  12,  1848.) 

Mr.  Lincoln  addressed  the  Committee  as  follows : 
MR.  CHAIRMAN  :  Some,  if  not  all,  of  the  gentlemen  on  the 
other  side  of  the  House,  who  have  addressed  the  Committee 
within  the  last  two  days,  have  spoken  rather  complainingly,  if 
I  have  rightly  understood  them,  of  the  vote  given  a  week  or 
ten  days  ago,  declaring  that  the  war  with  Mexico  was  unneces- 
sarily and  unconstitutionally  commenced  by  the  President.  I 
admit  that  such  a  vote  should  not  be  given  in  mere  party 
wantonness,  and  that  the  one  given  is  justly  censurable,  if  it 
have  no  other  or  better  foundation.  I  am  one  of  those  who 
joined  in  that  vote ;  and  did  so  under  my  best  impression  of 
the  truth  of  the  case.  How  I  got  this  impression,  and  how  if 
may  possibly  be  removed,  I  will  now  try  to  show.  When  the 
war  began,  it  was  my  opinion  that  all  those  who,  because  of 
knowing  too  little,  or  because  of  knowing  too  much,  could  not 
conscientiously  approve  the  conduct  of  the  President  (in  the 
beginning  of  it),  should,  nevertheless,  as  good  citizens  and 
patriots,  remain  silent  on  that  point,  at  least  till  the  war  should 
be  ended.  Some  leading  Democrats,  including  ex- President 
Van  Buren,  have  taken  this  same  view,  as  I  understand  them  ; 
and  I  adhered  to  it,  and  acted  upon  it,  until  since  I  took  my 
seat  here ;  and  I  think  I  should  still  adhere  to  it,  were  it  not 
that  the  President  and  his  friends  will  not  allow  it  to  be  so. 
Besides,  the  continual  effort  of  the  President  to  argue  every 
silent  vote  given  for  supplies  into  an  indorsement  of  the  jus- 
tice and  wisdom  of  his  conduct ;  besides  that  singularly  can- 
did paragraph  in  his  late  message,  in  which  he  tells  us  that 
Congress,  with  great  unanimity  (only  two  in  the  Senate  and 
fourteen  in  the  House  dissenting)  had  declared  that  "  by  the 


LIFE   OP   ABRAHAM    LINCOLN.  79 

act  of  the  Republic  of  Mexico  a  state  of  war  exists  between 
that  Government  and  the  United  States;"  when  the  same  jour- 
nals that  informed  him  of  this,  also  informed  him  that,  when 
that  declaration  stood  disconnected  from  the  question  of  sup- 
plies, sixty-seven  in  the  House,  and  not  fourteen,  merely,  voted 
against  it ;  besides  this  open  attempt  to  prove  by  telling  the 
truth,  what  he  could  not  prove  by  telling  the  whole  truth, 
demanding  of  all  who  will  not  submit  to  be  misrepresented,  in 
justice  to  themselves,  to  speak  out ;  besides  all  this,  one  of 
my  colleagues  [Mr.  Richardson],  at  a  very  early  day  in  the 
session,  brought  in  a  set  of  resolutions,  expressly  indorsing 
the  original  justice  of  the  war  on  the  part  of  the  President. 
Upon  these  resolutions,  when  they  sjiall  be  put  on  their  pas- 
sage, I  shall  be  compelled  to  vote ;  so  that  I  can  not  be  silent 
if  I  would.  Seeing  this,  I  went  about  preparing  myself  to 
give  the  vote  understandingly,  when  it  should  come.  I  care- 
fully examined  the  President's  messages,  to  ascertain  what  he 
himself  had  said  and  proved  upon  the  point.  The  result  of 
this  examination  was  to  make  the  impression,  that,  taking  for 
true  all  the  President  states  as  facts,  he  falls  far  short  of  prov- 
ing his  justification  ;  and  that  the  President  would  have  gone 
further  with  his  proof,  if  it  had  not  been  for  the  small  matter 
that  the  truth  would  not  permit  him.  Under  the  impression 
thus  made  I  gave  the  vote  before  mentioned.  I  propose  now 
to  give,  concisely,  the  process  of  the  examination  I  made,- and 
how  I  reached  the  conclusion  I  did. 

The  President,  in  his  first  message  of  May,  1846,  declares 
that  the  soil  was  ours  on  which  hostilities  were  commenced  by 
Mexico ;  and  he  repeats  that  declaration,  almost  in  the  same 
language,  in  each  successive  annual  message — thus  showing  that 
he  esteems  that  point  a  highly  essential  one.  In  the  importance 
of  that  point  I  entirely  agree  with  the  President.  To  my 
judgment,  it  is  the  very  point  upon  which  he  should  be  justi- 
fied or  condemned.  In  his  message  of  December,  1846,  it 
seems  to  have  occurred  to  him,  as  is  certainly  true,  that  title, 
ownership  to  soil,  or  anything  else,  is  not  a  simple  fact,  but  is 
a  conclusion  following  one  or  more  simple  facts;  and  that  it 
was  incumbent  upon  him  to  present  the  facts  from  which  he 
concluded  the  soil  was  ours  on  which  the  first  blood  of  the 
war  was  shed. 

Accordingly,  a  little  below  the  middle  of  page  twelve,  in 
the  message  last  referred  to,  he  enters  upon  that  task  ;  form- 
ing an  issue  and  introducing  testimony,  extending  tho  whole 
to  a  little  below  the  middle  of  page  fourteen.  Now,  I  propose 
to  try  to  show  that  the  whole  of  this — issue  and  evidence — is, 
from  beginning  to  end,  the  sheerest  deception.  The  issue,  aa 


80  LIFE   OP    ABRAHAM    LINCOLN. 

he  presents  it.  is  in  these  \vords:  "But  there  are  those  who, 
conceding  all  this  to  be  true,  assume  the  ground  that  the  true 
western  boundary  of  Texas  is  the  Nueces,  instead  of  the  llio 
Grande ;  and  that,  therefore,  in  inarching  our  army  to  the 
east  bank  of  the  latter  river,  we  passed  the  Texan  line,  and 
invaded  the  territory  of  Mexico."  Now,  this  issue  is  made 
up  of  two  affirmatives  and  no  negative.  The  main  deception 
of  it  is,  that  it  assumes  as  true  that  one  river  or  the  other  is 
necessarily  the  boundary,  and  cheats  the  ^superficial  thinker 
entirely  out  of  the  idea  that  possibly  the  boundary  is  some- 
where beliceen  the  two,  and  not  actually  at  either.  A  further 
deception  is,  that  it  will  let  in  evidence  which  a  true  issue  would 
exclude.  A  true  issue  made  by  the  President  would  be  about 
as  follows  :  "  T  say  the  soil  was  ours  on  which  the  first  blood 
was  shed ;  there  are  those  who  say  it  was  not." 

I  now  proceed  to  examine  the  President's  evidence,  as  appli- 
cable to  such  an  issue.  When  that  evidence  is  analyzed,  it  is 
all  included  in  the  following  propositions : 

1.  That  the  Rio  Grande  was  the  western  boundary  of  Lou- 
isiana, as  we  purchased  it  of  France  in  1803. 

2.  That  the  Republic  of  Texas  always  claimed  the  Rio  Grande 
as  her  western  boundary. 

3.  That,  by  various  acts,  she  had  claimed  it  on  paper. 

4.  That  Santa  Anna,  in  his  treaty  with  Texas,  recognized 
the  Rio  Grande  as  her  boundary. 

5.  That  Texas  before,  and  the  United  States  offer  annexa- 
tion, had  exercised  jurisdiction  beyond  the  Nueces,  between  the 
two  rivers. 

6.  That  our  Congress  understood  the  boundary  of  Texas  to 
extend  beyond  the  Nueces. 

Now  for  each  of  these  in  its  turn  : 

His  first  item  is,  that  the  Rio  Grande  was  the  western 
boundary  of  Louisiana,  as  we  purchased  it  of  France  in  1803 ; 
and,'seeming  to  expect  this  to  be  disputed,  he  argues  over  the 
amount  of  nearly  a  page  to  prove  it  true ;  at  the  end  of  which, 
he  lets  us  know  that,  by  the  treaty  of  1819,  we  sold  to  Spain 
the  whole  country,  from  the  Rio  Grande  eastward  to  the  Sa- 
bine.  Now,  admitting  for  the  present,  that  the  Rio  'Grande 
was  the  boundary  of  Louisiana,  what,  under  heaven,  had  that 
to  do  with  the  present  boundary  between  us  and  Mexico? 
How,  Mr.  Chairman,  the  line  that  once  divided  your  land  from 
mine  can  still  be  the  boundary  between  us  after  I  have  sold 
my  land  to  you,  is,  to  me,  beyond  all  comprehension.  And 
how  any  man.  with  an  honest  purpose  only  of  proving  the 
truth,  could  ever  have  thought  of  introducing  such  a  fact  to 
prove  such  an  issue,  is  equally  incomprehensible.  The  out- 


LIFE    OP    ABRAHAM    LINCOLN.  81' 

rage  upon  common  riyht,  of  seizing  as  our  own  what  we  have 
once  sold,  merely  because  it  was  ours  before  we  sold  it,  is  only 
equaled  by  the  outrage  on  common  sense  of  any  attempt  to 
justify  it. 

The  President's  next  piece  of  evidence  is,  that  "  The  Repub- 
lic of  Texas  always  claimed  this  river  (Rio  Grande)  as  her 
western  boundary."  That  is  not  true,  in  fact.  Texas  has 
claimed  it,  but  she  has  not  always  claimed  it.  There  is,  at 
least,  one  distinguished  exception.  Her  State  Constitution — 
the  public's  most  solemn  and  well-considered  act;  that  which 
may,  without  impropriety,  be  called  her  last  will  and  testa- 
ment, revoking  all  others — makes  no  such  claim.  But  sup- 
pose she  had  always  claimed  it.  Has  not  Mexico  always 
claimed  the  contrary?  So  that  there  is  but  claim  against  claim, 
leaving  nothing  proved  until  we  get  back  of  the  claims,  and 
tind  which  has  the  better  foundation. 

Though  not  in  the  order  in  which  the  President  presents  his 
evidence,  I  now  consider  that  class  of  his  statements,  which 
are,  in  substance,  nothing  more  than  that  Texas  has  by  various 
acts  of  her  Convention  and  Congress,  claimed  the  Rio  Grande 
as  her  boundary — on  paper.  I  mean  here  what  he  says  about 
the  fixing  of  the  Rio  Grande  as  her  boundary,  in  her  old  Con- 
stitution (not  her  State  Constitution),  about  forming  congres- 
sional districts,  counties,  etc.  Now,  all  this  is  but  naked 
claim;  and  what  I  have  already  said  about  claims  is  strictly 
applicable  to  this.  If  I  should  claim  your  land  by  word  of 
mouth,  that  certainly  would  not  make  it  mine ;  and  if  I 
were  to  claim  it  by  a  deed  which  I  had  made  myself,  and  with 
which  you  had  nothing  to  do,  the  claim  would  he  quite  the 
same  in  substance,  or  rather  in  utter  nothingness. 

I  next  consider  the  President's  statement  that  Santa  Anna, 
in  his  treaty  with  Texas,  recognized  the  Rio  Grande  as  the 
western  boundary  of  Texas.  Besides  the  position  so  often 
taken  that  Santa  Anna,  while  a  prisoner  of  war — a  captive — 
could  not  bind  Mexico  by  a  treaty,  which  I  deem  conclusive ; 
besides  this,  I  wish  to  say  something  in  relation  to  this  treaty, 
so  called  by  the  President,  with  Santa  Anna.  If  any  man 
would  like  to  be  amused  by  a  sight  at  that  little  thing,  which 
the  President  calls  by  that  big  name,  he  can  have  it  by  turning 
to  Niles'  Register,  volume  50,  page  336.  And  if  any  one 
should  suppose  that  Niles'  Register  is  a  curious  repository  of 
so  mighty  a  document  as  a  solemn  treaty  between  nations,  I 
can  only  say  that  I  learned,  to  a  tolerable  degree  of  certainty, 
by  inquiry  at  the  State  Department,  that  the  President  him- 
self never  saw  it  anywhere  else.  By  the  way,  I  believe  I 
should  not  err  if  I  were  to  declare,  that  during  the  first  ten 
8 


82  LIFE    OF    ABRAHAM    LINCOLN". 

years  of  the  existence  of  that  document,  it  was  never  by  any- 
body called  a  treaty ;  that  it  was  never  so  called  till  the  Presi- 
dent, in  his  extremity,  attempted,  by  so  calling  it,  to  wring 
something  from  it  in  justification  of  himself  in  connection 
with  the  Mexican  war.  It  has  none  of  the  distinguishing 
features  of  a  treaty.  It  does  not  call  itself  a  treaty.  Santa 
Anna  does  not  therein  assume  to  bind  Mexico;  he  assumes 
only  to  act  as  President,  Commander-in-chief  of  the  Mexican 
army  and  navy ;  stipulates  that  the  then  present  hostilities 
should  cease,  and  that  he  would  not  himself  take  up  arms,  nor 
influence,  the  Mexican  people  to  take  up  arms,  against  Texas, 
during  the  existence  of  the  war  of  independence.  He  did  not 
recognize  the  independence  of  Texas  ;  he  did  not  assume  to 
put  an  end  to  the  war,  but  clearly  indicated  his  expectation 
of  its  continuance ;  he  did  not  say  one  word  about  boundary, 
and  most  probably  never  thought  of  it.  It  is  stipulated  therein 
that  the  Mexican  forces  should  evacuate  the  territory  of  Texas, 
passing  to  the  other  side  of  the  Rio  Grande;  and  in  another 
article  it  is  stipulated,  that  to  prevent  collisions  between  the 
armies,  the  Texan  army  should  not  approach  nearer  than 
within  five  leagues — of  what  is  not  said — but  clearly,  from  the 
object  stated,  it  is  of  the  Rio  Grande.  Now,  if  this  is  a  treaty 
recognizing  the  Rio  Grande  as  the  boundary  of  Texas,  it  con- 
tains the  singular  feature  of  stipulating  that  Texas  shall  not 
go  within  five  leagues  of  her  own  boundary. 

Next  comes  the  evidence  of  Texas  before  annexation,  and 
the  United  States  afterward,  exercising  jurisdiction  beyond 
the  Nueces,  and  between  the  two  rivers.  This  actual  exercise 
of  jurisdiction  is  the  very  class  or  quality  of  evidence  we  want. 
It  is  excellent  so  far  as  it  goes ;  but  does  it  go  far  enough  ? 
He  tells  us  it  went  beyond  the  Nueces,  but  he  does  not  tell  us 
it  went  to  the  Rio  Grande.  He  tells  us  jurisdiction  was  exer- 
cised between  the  two  rivers,  but  he  does  not  tell  us  it  was 
exercised  over  all  the  territory  between  them.  Some  simple- 
minded  people  think  it  possible  to  cross  one  river  and  go  beyond 
it,  without  going  all  the  way  to  the  next;  that  jurisdiction 
may  be  exercised  between  two  rivers  without  covering  all  the 
country  between  them.  I  know  a  man,  not  very  unlike 
myself,  who  exercises  jurisdiction  over  a  piece  of  land  between 
the  Wabash  and  the  Mississippi ;  and  yet  so  far  is  this  from 
being  all  there  is  between  those  rivers,  that  it  is  just  one 
hundred  and  fifty-two  feet  long  by  fifty  wide,  and  no  part  of 
it  much  within  a  hundred  miles  of  either.  He  has  a  neigh- 
bor between  him  and  the  Mississippi — that  is,  just  across  the 
street,  in  that  direction — whom,  I  am  sure,  he  could  neither 
persuade  nor/orce  to  give  up  his  habitation ;  but  which,  nevsr- 


LIFE    OF   ABRAHAM    LINCOLN.  83 

theless,  lie  could  certainly  annex,  if  it  were  to  be  done,  by 
merely  standing  on  his  own  side  of  the  street  and  claiming 
it,  or  even  sitting  down  and  writing  a  deed  for  it. 

But  next,  the  President  tells  us,  the  Congress  of  the  United 
States  understood  the  State  of  Texas  they  admitted  into  the 
Union  to  extend  leyond  the  Nueces.  Well,  I  suppose  they 
did — I  certainly  so  understand  it — but  how  far  beyond? 
That  Congress  did  not  understand  it  to  extend  clear  to  the 
Rio  Grande,  is  quite  certain  by  the  fact  of  their  joint  resolu- 
tions for  admission  expressly  leaving  all  questions  of  boundary 
to  future  adjustment.  And,  it  may  be  added,  that  Texas 
herself  is  proved  to  have  had  the  same  understanding  of  it 
that  our  Congress  had,  by  the  fact  of  the  exact  conformity  of 
her  new  Constitution  to  those  resolutions. 

I  am  now  through  the  whole  of  the  President's  evidence; 
and  it  is  a  singular  fact,  that  if  any  one  should  declare  the 
President  sent  the  army  into  the  midst  of  a  settlement  of 
Mexican  people,  who  had  never  submitted,  by  consent  or  by 
force  to  the  authority  of  Texas  or  of  the  United  States,*  and 
that  there,  and  thereby,  the  first  blood  of  the  war  was  shed, 
there  is  not  one  word  in  all  the  President  has  said  which 
would  either  admit  or  deny  the  declaration.  In  this  strange 
omission  chiefly  consists  the  deception  of  the  President's 
evidence — an  omission  which,  it  does  seem  to  me,  could 
scarcely  have  occurred  but  by  design.  My  way  of  living 
leads  me  to  be  about  the  courts  of  justice ;  and  there  I  have 
some  times  seen  a  good  lawyer,  struggling  for  his  client's 
neck,  in  a  desperate  case,  employing  every  artifice  to  work 
round,  befog,  and  cover  up  with  many  worda  some  position 
pressed  upon  him  by  the  prosecution,  which  he  dared  not 
admit,  and  yet  could  not  deny.  Party  bias  may  help  to  make 
it  appear  so ;  but,  with  all  the  allowance  I  can  make  for  such 
bias,  it  still  does  appear  to  me  that  just  such,  and  from  just 
such  necessity,  are  the  President's  struggles  in  this  case. 

Some  time  after  my  colleague  (Mr.  Richardson)  intro- 
duced the  resolutions  I  have  mentioned,  I  introduced  a 
preamble,  resolution,  and  interrogatories,  intended  to  draw 
the  President  out,  if  possible,  on  this  hitherto  untrodden 
ground.  To  show  their  relevancy,  I  propose  to  state  my 
understanding  of  the  true  rule  for  ascertaining  the  boundary 
between  Texas  and  Mexico.  It  is,  that  wlwrever  Texas  was 
exercising  jurisdiction  was  hers ;  and  wherever  Mexico  was 
exercising  jurisdiction  was  hers  ;  and  that  whatever  separated 
the  actual  exercise  of  jurisdiction  of  the  one  from  that  of  the 
other,  was  the  true  boundary  between  them.  If,  as  is  proba- 
bly true,  Texas  was  exercising  jurisdiction  along  the  western 


84  LIFE   OF   ABRAHAM    LINCOLN. 

bank  of  the  Nueces,  and  Mexico  was  exercising  it  along  tin 
eastern  bank  of  the  Rio  Grande,  then  neither  river  was  the 
boundary,  but  the  uninhabited  country  between  the  two  was. 
The  extent  of  our  territory  in  that  region  depended  not  on 
any  treaty-faced  boundary  (for  no  treaty  had  attempted  it), 
but  on  revolution.  Any  people  anywhere,  being  inclined  and 
having  the  power,  have  the  right  to  rise  up  and  shake  off  the 
existing  government,  and  form  a  new  one  that  suits  them 
better.  This  is  a  most  valuable,  a  most  sacred  right — a  right 
which,  we  hope  and  believe,  is  to  liberate  the  world.  Nor  is 
this  right  confined  to  cases  in  which  the  whole  people  of  an 
existing  government  may  choose  to  exercise  it.  Any  portion 
of  such  people  that  can  may  revolutionize,  and  make  their 
own  of  so  much  of  the  territory  as  they  inhabit.  More  than 
this,  a  majority  of  any  portion  of  such  people  may  revolu- 
tionize, putting  down  a  minority,  intermingled  with,  or  near 
about  them,  who  may  oppose  their  movements.  Such  minority 
was  precisely  the  case  of  the  Tories  of  our  own  Revolution. 
It  is  a  quality  of  revolutions  not  to  go  by  old  lines,  or  old 
laws ;  but  to  break  up  both,  and  make  new  ones.  As  to  the 
country  now  in  question,  we  bought  it  of  France  in  1803, 
and  sold  it  to  Spain  in  1819,  according  to  the  President's 
statement.  After  this,  all  Mexico,  including  Texas,  revolu- 
tionized against  Spain  ;  and  still  later,  Texas  revolutionized 
against  Mexico.  In  my  view,  just  so  far  as  she  carried  her 
revolution,  by  obtaining  the  actual,  willing*or  unwilling  sub- 
mission of  the  people,  so  far  the  country  was  hers,  and  no 
further. 

Now,  sir,  for  the  purpose  of  obtaining  the  very  best  evi- 
dence as  to  whether  Texas  had  actually  carried  her  revolution 
to  the  place  where  the  hostilities  of  the  present  war  com- 
menced, let  the  President  answer  the  interrogatories  I  proposed, 
as  before  mentioned,  or  some  other  similar  ones.  Let  him 
answer  fully,  fairly  and  candidly.  Let  him  answer  with  facts, 
and  not  with  arguments.  Let  him  remember  he  sits  where 
Washington  sat ;  and,  so  remembering,  let  him  answer  as 
Washington  would  answer.  As  a  nation  should  not,  and  the 
Almighty  will  not,  be  evaded,  so  let  him  attempt  no  evasion, 
no  equivocation.  And  if,  so  answering,  he  can  show  that  the 
soil  was  ours  where  the  first  blood  of  the  war  was  shed — that 
it  was  not  within  an  inhabited  country,  or,  if  within  such,  that 
the  inhabitants  had  submitted  themselves  to  the  civil  authority 
of  Texas,  or  of  the  United  States,  and  that  the  same  is  true  of 
the  site  of  Fort  Brown — then  I  am  with  him  for  his  justifica- 
tion. In  that  case,  I  shall  be  most  happy  to  reverse  the  vote 
I  gave  the  other  day.  I  have  a  selfish  motive  for  desiring  that 


LIFE   OF   ABRAHAM    LINCOLN.  85 

the  President  may  do  this ;  I  expect  to  give  some  votes,  in 
connection  with  the  war,  which,  without  his  so  doing,  will  be  of 
doubtful  propriety,  in  my  own  judgment,  but  which  will  be  free 
from  the  dtJubt,  if  he  does  so.  But  if  he  can  not  or  will  not  do 
this — if,  on  any  pretense,  or  no  pretense,  he  shall  refuse  or  omit 
it — then  I  shall  be  fully  convinced,  of  what  I  more  than  sus- 
pect already,  that  he  is  deeply  conscious  of  being  in  the  wrong ; 
that  he  feels  the  blood  of  this  war,  like  the  blood  of  Abel,  is 
crying  to  heaven  against  him ;  that  he  ordered  General  Tay- 
lor into  the  midst  of  a  peaceful  Mexican  settlement,  purposely 
to  bring  on  a  war  ;  that  originally  having  some  strong  motive — 
what  I  will  not  stop  now  to  give  my  opinion  concerning — to 
involve  the  two  countries  in  a  war,  and  trusting  to  escape 
scrutiny  by  fixing  the  public  gaze  upon  the  exceeding  bright- 
ness of  military  glory — that  attractive  rainbow  that  rises  in 
showers  of  blood — that  serpent's  eye  that  charms  to  destroy — 
he  plunged  into  it,  and  has  swept  on  and  on,  till,  disappointed 
in  his  calculation  of  the  ease  with  which  Mexico  might  be 
subdued,  he  now  finds  himself  he  knows  not  where.  How 
like  the  half  insane  mumbling,  of  a  fever  dream  is  the  whole 
war  part  of  the  late  message  f  At  one  time  telling  us  that 
Mexico  has  nothing  whatever  that  we  can  get  but  territory  ;  at 
another,  showing  us  how  we  can  support  the  war  by  levying 
contributions  on  Mexico.  At  one  time  urging  the  national  ' 
honor,  the  security  of  the  future,  the  prevention  of  foreign 
interference,  and  e^n  the  good  of  Mexico  herself,  as  among 
the  objects  of  the  war ;  at  another,  telling  us  that,  "  to  reject 
indemnity  by  refusing  to  accept  a  cession  of  territory,  would 
be  to  abandon  all  our  just  demands,  and  to  wage  the  war,  bear- 
ing all  its  expenses,  without  a  purpose  or  definite  object."  So, 
then,  the  national  honor,  security  of  the  future,  and  every- 
thing but  territorial  indemnity,  may  be  considered  the  no 
purposes  and  indefinite  objects  of  the  war  1  But  having  it  now 
settled  that  territorial  indemnity  is  the  only  object,  we  are 
urged  to  seize,  by  legislation  here,  all  that  he  was  content  to 
take  a  few  months  ago,  and  the  whole  province  of  Lower  Cal- 
ifornia to  boot,  and  to  still  carry  on  the  war — to  take  all  wo 
are  fighting  for,  and  still  fight  on.  Again,  the  President  is 
resolved,  under  all  circumstances,  to  have  full  territorial 
indemnity  for  the  expenses  of  the  war  ;  but  he  forgets  to  tell 
us  how  we  are  to  get  the  excess  after  those  expenses  shall  have 
surpassed  the  value  of  the  whole  of  the  Mexican  territory. 
So,  again,  he  insists  that  the  separate  national  existence  of 
Mexico  shall  be  maintained  ;  but  he  does  not  tell  us  how  this 
can  be  done  after  we  shall  have  taken  all  her  territory.  Lest 


86  LIFE   OP  ABRAHAM    LINCOLN. 

the  question  I  here  suggest  be  considered  speculative  merely, 
let  me  be  indulged  a  moment  in  trying  to  show  they  are  not. 

The  war  has  gone  on  some  twenty  months ;  for  the  expenses 
of  which,  together  with  an  inconsiderable  old  score,  the  Presi- 
dent now  claims  about  one-half  of  the  Mexican  territory,  and 
that  by  far  the  better  half,  so  far  as  concerns  our  ability  to 
make  any  thing  out  of  it.  It  is  comparatively  uninhabited  ; 
so  that  we  could  establish  land  offices  in  it,  and  raise  some 
money  in  that  way.  But  the  other  half  is  already  inhabited, 
as  I  understand  it,  tolerably  densely  for  the  nature  of  the 
country  ;  and  all  its  lands,  or  all  that  are  valuable,  already 
appropriated  as  private  property.  How,  then,  are  we  to  make 
any  thing  out  of  these  lands  with  this  incumbrance  on  them, 
or  how  remove  the  incumbrance  ?  I  suppose  no  one  will  say 
we  should  kill  the  people,  or  drive  them  out,  or  make  slaves  of 
them,  or  even  confiscate  their  property  ?  How,  then,  can  wo 
make  much  out  of  this  part  of  the  territory  ?  If  the  prose- 
cution of  the  war  has,  in  expenses,  already  equaled  the  better 
half  of  the  country,  how  long  its  future  prosecution  will  be  in 
equaling  the  less  valuable  half  is  not  a  speculative  but  a  prac- 
tical question,  pressing  closely  upon  us;  and  yet  it  is  a  ques- 
tion which  the  President  seems  never  to  have  thought  of. 

As  to  the  mode  of  terminating  the  war  and  securing  peace, 
the  President  is  equally  wandering  and  indefinite.  First,  it 
is  to  be  done  by  aTmore  vigorous  prosecution  of  the  war  in  the 
vital  parts  of  the  enemy's  country ;  an(£  after  apparently 
talking  himself  tired  on  this  point,  the  President  drops  down 
into  a  half  despairing  tone,  and  tells  us,  that  "  with  a  people 
distracted  and  divided  by  contending  factions,  and  a  govern- 
ment subject  to  constant  changes,  by  successive  revolutions, 
the  continued  success  of  our  arms  may  fail  to  obtain  a  satis- 
factory peace,"  Then  he  suggests  the  propriety  of  wheedling 
the  Mexican  people  to  desert  the  counsels  of  their  own  lead- 
ers, and,  trusting  in  our  protection,  to  set  up  a  government 
from  which  we  can  secure  a  satisfactory  peace,  telling  us  that 
"this  may  become  the  only  mode  of  obtaining  such  a  peace.'1 
But  soon  he  falls  into  doubt  of  this  too,  and  then  drops  back 
on  to  the  already  half-abandoned  ground  of  "  more  vigorous 
prosecution."  All  this  shows  that  the  President  is  in  no  wise 
satisfied  with  his  own  positions.  First,  he  takes  up  one,  and, 
in  attempting  to  argue  us  into  it,  he  argues  himself  out  of  it ; 
then  seizes  another,  and  goes  through  the  same  process  ;  and 
then,  confused  at  being  able  to  think  of  nothing  new,  he 
snatches  up  the  old  one  again,  which  he  has  some  time  before 
cast  off.  His  mind,  tasked  beyond  its  power,  is  running 


LIFE   OP   ABRAHAM    LINCOLN.  87 

hither  and  thither,  like  some  tortured  creature  on  a  burning 
surface,  finding  no  position  on  which  it  can  settle  down  and 
be  at  ease. 

Again,  it  is  a  singular  omission  in  this  message,  that  it 
nowhere  intimates  when  the  President  expects  the  war  to  ter- 
minate. At  its  beginning,  General  Scott  was,  by  this  same 
President,  driven  into  disfavor,  if  not  disgrace,  for  intimating 
that  peace  could  not  be  conquered  in  less  than  three  or  four 
months.  But  now  at  the  end  of  about  twenty  months,  during 
which  time  our  arms  have  given  us  the  most  splendid  suc- 
cesses— every  department,  and  every  part,  land  and  water, 
officers  and  privates,  regulars  and  volunteers,  doing  all  that 
men  could  do,  and  hundreds  of  things  which  it  had  ever  before 
been  thought  that  men  could  not  do  ;  after  all  this,  this  same 
President  gives  us  a  long  message  without  showing  us  that,  as 
to  the  end,  he  has  himself  even  an  imaginary  conception.  As 
I  have  before  said,  he  knows  not  where  he  is.  He  is  a  bewild- 
ered, confounded,  and  miserably-perplexed  man.  God  grant 
he  may  be  able^to  show  that  there  is  not  something  about  his 
conscience  more  painful  than  all  his  mental  perplexity. 

Mr.  Lincoln  was  an  industrious  member  of  the  Committee 
on  Post-offices  and  Post-roads,  and  thoroughly  acquainted 
himself  with  the  details  of  that  prominent  branch  of  the  public 
service.  On  the  5th  of  January,  1848,  he  made  a  clear  and 
pertinent  speech  in  regard  to  a  question  of  temporary  interest 
which  then  excited  considerable  attention,  the  "Great  Southern 
Mail "  contract.  Some  of  the  Virginia  Whig  members  had 
taken  issue  with  the  Postmaster  General,  in  regard  to  his  action 
on  this  question,  and  there  were  indications  of  an  attempt  to 
give  a  partizan  turn  to  the  affair.  Mr.  Lincoln  sustained  the 
action  of  that  Democratic  official,  insisting  that  his  construc- 
tion of  the  law  in  this  instance,  which  was  the  more  econom- 
ical, was  also  the  more  correct  one.  It  is  unnecessary  to  enter 
into  the  details  of  the  case  here.  We  subjoin  two  or  three 
paragraphs  from  the  speech,  which  was  purely  a  practical  one, 
for  the  purpose  of  showing  the  general  spirit  and  tenor  of  Mr. 
Lincoln's  mode  of  dealing  with  business  matters  : 

"  I  think  that  abundant  reasons  have  been  given  to  show 
that  the  construction  put  upon  the  law  by  the  Postmaster 
General  is  the  right  construction,  and  that  subsequent  acts  of 
Congress  have  confirmed  it.  I  have  already  said  that  the 


88  LIFE   OF   AliUAHAil    LINCOLN. 

grie\  ance  complained  of  ought  to  be  remedied.  But  it  is  said 
that  the  sum  of  money  about  which  all  this  difficulty  has  arisen 
is  exceedingly  small — not  more  than  §2,700.  I  admit  it  is 
very  omall ;  and  if  nothing  else  were  involved,  it  would  not  be 
worth  the  dispute.  But  there  is  a  principle  involved  ;  and  if 
we  once  yiold  to  a  wrong  principle,  that  concession  will  be  the 
prolific  somce  of  endless  mischief.  It  is  for  this  reason,  and 
not  for  the  s.\ke  of  saving  §2,700,  that  I  am  unwilling  to  yield 
what  is  demanded.  If  I  had  no  apprehensions  that  the  ghost 
of  this  yielding  would  rise  and  appear  in  various  distant  places, 
I  would  say,  pay  the  money,  and  let  us  have  no  more  fuss 
about  it.  But  I  have  such  apprehensions.  I  do  believe,  that 
if  we  yield  this,  oar  act  will  be  the  source  of  other  claims 
equally  unjust,  and  therefore  I  can  not  vote  to  make  the 
allowance." 

Mr.  L.  insisted  that  the  true  and  great  point  to  which  the 
attention  of  this  House  or  the  committee  should  be  directed 
was,  what  is  a  just  compensation  ?  Inasmuch  as  this  railroad 
and  steamboat  company  could  afford  greater  facilities  than  any 
other  line,  the  service  ought  to  be  done  upon  this  route ;  but 
it  ought  to  be  done  on  just  and  fair  principles.  If  it  could 
not  be  done  at  what  had  been  offered,  let  it  be  shown  that  a 
greater  amount  was  jnst.  But,  until  it  was  shown,  he  was 
opposed  to  increasing  it.  He  had  seen  many  things  in  the 
report  of  the  Postmaster  General  and  elsewhere  that  stood  out 
against  the  river  route.  Now,  the  daily  steamboat  transporta- 
tion between  Troy  and  New  York  was  performed  for  less  than 
one  hundred  dollars  per  mile.  This  company  was  dissatisfied 
with  two  hundred  and  twelve  or  two  hundred  and  thirteen 
dollars  per  mile.  It  had  not  been  shown,  and  he  thought  it 
could  not  be  shown  to  them  why  this  company  was  entitled  to 
more,  or  so  much  more,  than  the  other  received.  It  was  true, 
they  had  to  encounter  the  ice,  but  was  there  not  more  ice 
further  north?  There  might  possibly  be  shown  some  reason 
why  the  Virginia  line  should  have  more;  but  was  there  any 
reason  why  they  should  have  so  much  more?  Again,  the 
price  paid  between  Cincinnati  and  Louisville  for  daily  trans- 
portation was  not  two  hundred  and  thirteen  dollars  per  mile, 
or  one  hundred  dollars,  or  fifty ;  it  was  less  than  twenty-eight 
dollars  per  mile.  Now,  he  did  not  insist  that  there  might  not 
be  some  peculiar  reasons  connected  with  this  route  between 
this  city  and  Richmond  that  entitled  it  to  more  than  was  paid 
on  the  routes  between  Cincinnati  and  Louisville,  and  Troy  and 
New  York.  But,  if  there  were  reasons,  they  ought  to  be 
shown.  And  was  it  supposed  that  there  could  be  any,  or  so 
peculiar  reasons  as  to  justify  so  great  a  difference  in  compcu- 


LIFE   OF   ABRAHAM    LINCOLN.  89 

bation  &i  was  claimed  by  this  company  ?  It  did  seem  that 
there  couid  be  none. 

These  reasons  actuated  him  in  taking  the  position  he  had 
taken,  painfully  refusing  to  oblige  his  friend  from  Virginia, 
•which  he  assured  the  gentleman  he  had  the  greatest  inclina- 
tion to  do. 

In  relation  to  the  report  of  the  committee,  let  him  state 
one  thing :  It  proposed  that  the  Postmaster  General  should 
again  offer  this  company  what  he  had  already  offered  and  they 
had  refused.  It  was  for  the  reason  that  the  Postmaster  General, 
as  he  understood,  had  informed  them  that  he  was  not  himself 
going  to  renew  the  proposition.  The  committee  supposed,  at 
any  rate  he  (Mr.  L.)  supposed — that  as  soon  as  the  company 
should  know  that  they  could  get  what  he  had  offered  them, 
and  no  more — as  soon  as  all  hope  of  greater  compensation  was 
cut  off — that  instant  they  would  not  take  ten  thousand  dollars 
a  year  for  the  privilege  of  doing  it.  Whether  this  was  actually 
the  case  he  did  not  profess  positively  to  know ;  it  was  a  matter 
of  opinion,  but  he  firmly  believed  it.  In  proposing  to  offer 
them  the  contract  again,  as  he  had  already  said,  the  committee 
yielded  something,  viz.:  the  damage  that  the  Government  would 
have  to  pay  for  the  breaking  up  of  the  present  arrangement. 
He  was  willing  to  incur  that  damage  ;  some  other  gentlemen 
were  not;  they  were  further  away  from  the  position  which  his 
friend  from  Virginia  took.  He  was  willing  to  yield  something, 
but  could  not  consent  to  go  the  whole  length  with  the 
gentleman. 

The  subject  of  internal  improvements,  as  before  indicated, 
had  long  been  one  in  which  Mr.  Lincoln  had  taken  a  special 
interest.  In  the  Illinois  legislature,  he  had  favored  the  policy 
of  developing  the  resources  of  the  State  by  the  fostering  aid 
of  the  local  government,  in  so  far  as  he  might,  under  the  con- 
stant restraints  of  a  Democratic  majority.  The  great  River 
and  Harbor  Improvement  Convention,  held  at  Chicago,  not 
long  before  the  commencement  of  his  Congressional  life — and 
to  which  he  refers  in  his  subjoined  speech  on  this  policy — he 
had  participated  in,  as  one  of  its  most  active  and  earnest 
members.  A  brief,  fifteen-minute  speech  of  his  on  that  occa- 
sion, of  which  there  appears  to  be  no  report  extant,  is  still 
remembered  by  many  of  those  who  heard  it,  as  one  of  the 
most  eloquent  and  impressive  efforts  of  that  memorable  con- 
vention, which  was  presided  over  by  the  Hon.  Edward  Bates, 
8 


90  LIFE   OP   ABRAHAM   LINCOLN. 

of  St.  Louis.  Aside  from  the  celebrated  speech  of  the  latter, 
a  theme  of  constant  praise  from  that  day  to  the  present,  no 
more  electrifying  address  was  made  before  the  convention  than 
that  of  Mr.  Lincoln. 

On  the  20th  day  of  June,  1848,  after  the  presidential  nom- 
ination of  Mr.  Cass,  whom  "  circumstances,"  it  will  be  re- 
membered, prevented  from  being  present  at  that  convention, 
Mr.  Lincoln  took  occasion  to  address  the  House  on  this  sub- 
ject. Below  is  his  speech  entire,  as  reported  in  the  Appendix 
to  the  Congressional  Globe  for  that  session  (p.  709). 

MB.  LINCOLN'S  SPEECH  ON  INTERNAL  IMPROVEMENTS. 
(In  •  Committee  of  the  Whole  House,  June  20,  1848.) 

Mr.  Lincoln  said  : 

MR.  CHAIRMAN  :  I  wish  at  all  times  in  no  way  to  practice 
any  fraud  upon  the  House  or  the  committee,  and  I  also  desire 
to  do  nothing  which  may  be  very  disagreeable  to  any  of  the 
members.  I  therefore  state,  in  advance,  that  my  object  in 
taking  the  floor  is  to  make  a  speech  on  the  general  subject  of 
internal  improvements  ;  and  if  I  am  out  of  order  in  doing  so, 
I  give  the  Chair  an  opportunity  of  so  deciding,  and  I  will  take 
my  seat. 

The  Chair. — I  will  not  undertake  to  anticipate  what  the 
gentleman  may  say  on  the  subject  of  internal  improvements. 
He  will,  therefore,  proceed  in  his  remarks,  and  if  any  question 
of  order  shall  be  made,  the  Chair  will  then  decide  it. 

Mr.  Lincoln. — At  an  early  day  of  this  session  the  Pres- 
ident sent  to  us  what  may  properly  be  termed  an  inter- 
nal improvement  veto  message.  The  late  Democratic  Conven- 
tion which  sat  at  Baltimore,  and  which  nominated  General 
Cass  for  the  Presidency,  adopted  a  set  of  resolutions,  now 
called  the  Democratic  platform,  among  which  is  one  in  these 
words  : 

"  That  the  Constitution  does  not  confer  upon  the  General 
Government  the  power  to  commence  and  carry  on  a  general 
system  of  internal  improvements." 

General  Cass,  in  his  letter  accepting  the  nomination,  holds 
this  language : 

"  I  have  carefully  read  the  resolutions  of  the  Democratic 
National  Convention,  laying  down  the  platform  of  our  politi- 
cal faith,  and  I  adhere  to  them  as  firmly  as  I  approve  them 
cordially." 

These  things,  taken  together,  show  that  the  question  of 


LIFE  OP  ABRAHAM   LINCOLN.  91 

internal  improvements  is  now  more  distinctly  made — has 
become  more  intense,  than  at  any  former  period.  It  can  no 
longer  be  avoided.  The  veto  message  and  the  Baltimore  res- 
olution I  understand  to  be,  in  substance,  the  same  thing ;  the 
latter  being  the  more  general  statement,  of  which  the  former 
is  the  amplification — the  bill  of  particulars.  While  I  know 
there  are  many  Democrats,  on  this  floor  and  elsewhere,  who 
disapprove  that  message,  I  understand  that  all  who  shall  vote 
for  General  Cass  will  thereafter  be  considered  as  having 
approved  it,  as  having  indorsed  all  its  doctrines.  I  suppose  all, 
or  nearly  all,  the  Democrats  will  vote  for  him.  Many  of  them 
will  do  so,  not  because  they  like  his  position  on  this  question, 
but  because  they  prefer  him,  being  wrong  in  this,  to  another, 
whom  they  consider  further  wrong  on  other  questions.  In 
this  way  the  internal  improvement  Democrats  are  to  be,  by  a 
sort  of  forced  consent,  carried  over,  and  arrayed  against  them- 
selves on  this  measure  of  policy.  General  Cass,  once  elected, 
will  not  trouble  himself  to  make  a  Constitutional  argument, 
or,  perhaps,  any  argument  at  all,  when  he  shall  veto  a  river 
of  harbor  bill.  He  will  consider  it  a  sufficient  answer  to  all 
Democratic  murmurs,  to  point  to  Mr.  Folk's  message,  and  to 
the  "  Democratic  platform."  This  being  the  case,  the  ques- 
tion of  improvements  is  verging  to  a  final  crisis ;  and  the 
friends  of  the  policy  must  now  battle,  and  battle  manfully,  or 
surrender  all.  In  this  view,  humble  as  I  am,  I  wish  to 
review,  and  contest  as  well  as  I  may,  the  general  positions  of 
this  veto  message.  When  I  say  general  positions,  I  mean  to 
exclude  from  consideration  so  much  as  relates  to  the  present 
embarrassed  state  of  the  Treasury,  in  consequence  of  the  Mex- 
ican war. 

Those  general  positions  are  :  That  internal  improvements 
ought  not  to  be  made  by  the  General  Government : 

1.  Because  they  would  overwhelm  the  treasury ; 

2.  Because,  while  their  burdens  would  be  general,  their  ben- 
efits would  be  local  and  partial,  involving  an  obnoxious  ine- 
quality ; 

3.  Because  they  would  be  unconstitutional ; 

4.  Because  the  States  may  do  enough  by  the  levy  and  col- 
lection of  tunnage  duties  ;  or,  if  not, 

5.  That  the  Constitution  may  be  amended. 

"  Do  nothing  at  all,  lest  you  do  something  wrong,"  is  the 
sum  of  these  positions — is  the  sum  of  this  message ;  and  this, 
with  the  exception  of  what  is  said  about  Constitutionality, 
applying  as  forcibly  to  making  improvements  by  State  authority 
as  by  the  national  authority.  So  that  we  must  abandon  the 
improvements  of  the  country  altogether,  by  any  and  every 


92  LIFE   OP   ABRAHAM    LINCOLN. 

authority,  or  we  must  resist  and  repudiate  the  doctrines  of  this 
message.  Let  us  attempt  the  latter. 

The  first  position  is,  that  a  system  of  internal  improvement 
would  overwhelm  the  treasury. 

That,  in  such  a  system,  there  is  a  tendency  to  undue  expan- 
sion, is  not  to  be  denied.  Such  tendency  is  founded  in  the 
nature  of  the  subject.  A  member  of  Congress  will  prefer 
voting  for  a  bill  which  contains  an  appropriation  for  his  district, 
to  voting  for  one  which  does  not ;  and  when  a  bill  shall  be 
expanded  till  every  district  shall  be  provided  for,  that  it  will  be 
too  greatly  expanded  is  obvious.  But  is  this  any  more  true  in 
Congress  than  in  a  State  Legislature?  If  a  member  of  Con- 
gress must  have  an  appropriation  for  his  district,  so  a  member 
of  a  Legislature  must  have  one  for  his  county  ;  and  if  one  will 
overwhelm  the  national  treasury,  so  the  other  will  overwhelm 
the  State  treasury.  Go  where  we  will,  the  difficulty  is  the  same. 
Allow  it  to  drive  us  from  the  halls  of  Congress,  and  it  will  just 
as  easily  drive  us  from  the  State  Legislatures.  Let  us,  then, 
grapple  with  it,  and  test  its  strength.  Let  us,  judging  of  the 
future  by  the  past,  ascertain  whether  there  may  not  be,  in  the 
discretion  of  Congress,  a  sufficient  power  to  limit  and  restrain 
this  expansive  tendency  within  reasonable  and  proper  bounds. 
The  President  himself  values  the  evidence  of  the  past.  He 
tells  us  that  at  a  certain  point  of  our  history,  more  than  two 
hundred  millions  of  dollars  had  been  applied  for,  to  make 
improvements,  and  this  he  does  to  prove  that  the  treasury  would 
be  overwhelmed  by  such  a  system.  Why  did  he  not  tell  us 
how  much  was  (/ranted'/  Would  not  that  have  been  better 
evidence?  Let  us  turn  to  it,  and  see  what  it  proves.  In  the 
message,  the  President  tells  us  that  "  during  the  four  succeed- 
ing years,  embraced  by  the  administration  of  President  Ad- 
ams, the  power  not  only  to  appropriate  money,  but  to  apply  it, 
under  the  direction  and  authority  of  the  General  Government, 
as  well  to  the  construction  of  roads  as  to  the  improvement  of 
harbors  and  rivers,  was  fully  asserted  and  exercised." 

This,  then,  was  the  period  of  greatest  enormity.  These,  if 
any,  must  have  been  the  days  of  the  two  hundred  millions. 
And  how  much  do  you  suppose  was  really  expended  for  im- 
provements during  those  four  years  ?  Two  hundred  millions  ? 
One  hundred?  Fifty?  Ten?  Five?  No,  sir,  less  than  two 
millions.  As  shown  by  authentic  documents,  the  expenditures 
on  improvements  during  1825, 1826,  1827  and  1828,  amounted 
to  SI, 879,627  01.  These  four  years  were  the  period  of  Mr. 
Adams'  administration,  nearly,  and  substantially.  This  fact 
shows  that  when  the  power  to  make  improvements  was  "fully 
asserted  and  exercised,"  the  Congresses  did  keep  within  rca- 


LIFE   OE   ABRAHAM   LINCOLN.  93 

donable  limits  ;  and  what  has  been  done  it  seems  to  me,  can 
be  done  again. 

Now  for  the  second  position  of  the  message,  namely,  that 
the  burdens  of  improvements  would  be  general,  while  their 
benefits  would  be  local  and  partial,  involving  an  obnoxious 
inequality.  That  there  is  some  degree  of  truth  in  this  posi- 
tion I  shall  not  deny.  No  commercial  object  of  Government 
patronage  can  be  so  exclusively  general,  as  not  to  be  of  some 
peculiar  local  advantage ;  but,  on  the  other  hand,  nothing  is 
so  local  as  not  to  be  of  some  general  advantage.  The  navy, 
as  I  understand  it,  was  established,  and  is  maintained,  at  a 
great  annual  expense,  partly  to  be  ready  for  war,  when  war 
shall  come,  but  partly  also,  and  perhaps  chiefly,  for  the  pro- 
tection of  our  commerce  on  the  high  seas.  This  latter  object 
is,  for  all  I  can  see,  in  principle,  the  same  as  internal  improve- 
ments. The  driving  a  pirate  from  the  track  of  commerce  on 
the  broad  ocean,  and  the  removing  a  snag  from  its  more  nar- 
row path  in  the  Mississippi  river,  can  not,  I  think,  be  distin- 
guished in  principle.  Each  is  done  to  save  life  and  property, 
and  for  nothing  else.  The  navy,  then,  is  the  most  general  iu 
its  benefits  of  all  this  class  of  objects ;  and  yet  even  the  navy 
is  of  some  peculiar  advantage  to  Charleston,  Baltimore,  Phil- 
adelphia, New  York,  and  Boston,  beyond  what  it  is  to  the  inte- 
rior towns  of  Illinois.  The  next  most  general  object  I  can 
think  of,  would  be  improvements  on  the  Mississippi  river  and 
its  tributaries.  They  touch  thirteen  of  our  States — Pennsyl- 
vania, Virginia,  Kentucky,  Tennessee,  Mississippi,  Louisiana, 
Arkansas,  Missouri  Illinois,  Indiana,  Ohio,  Wisconsin,  and 
Iowa.  Now,  I  suppose  it  will  not  be  denied,  that  these  thir- 
teen States  are  a  little  more  interested  in  improvements  on 
that  great  river  than  are  the  remaining  seventeen.  These 
instances  of  the  navy,  and  the  Mississippi  river,  show  clearly 
that  there  is  something  of  local  advantage  in  the  most  general 
objects.  But  the  converse  is  also  true.  Nothing  is  so  local 
as  not  to  be  of  some  general  benefit.  Take,  for  instance,  the 
Illinois  and  Michigan  canal.  Considered  apart  from  its 
effects,  it  is  perfectly  local.  Every  inch  of  it  is  within  the 
State  of  Illinois.  That  canal  was  first  opened  for  business 
last  April.  In  a  very  few  days  we  were  all  gratified  to  learn, 
among  other  things,  that  sugar  had  been  carried  from  New 
Orleans,  through  the  canal,  to  Buffalo,  in  New  York.  This 
sugar  took  this  route,  doubtless,  because  it  was  cheaper  than 
the  old  route.  Supposing  the  benefit  in  the  reduction  of  the 
cost  of  carriage  to  be  shared  between  seller  and  buyer,  the 
result  is,  that  the  New  Orleans  merchant  sold  his  sugar  a  little 
dearer,  aud  the  people  of  Buffalo  sweetened  their  coffee  a  little 


94  LIFE   OF   ABRAHAM   LINCOLN. 

cfoaper  than  before ;  a  benefit  resulting  from  the  canal,  not  to 
Illinois,  where  the  canal  is,  but  to  Louisiana  and  New  York, 
where  it  is  not.  In  other  transactions  Illinois  will,  of  course, 
have  her  share,  and  perhaps  the  larger  share  too,  in  the  bene- 
fits of  the  canal ;  but  the  instance  of  the  sugar  clearly  shows 
that  the  benefits  of  an  improvement  are  by  no  means  confined 
to  the  particular  locality  of  the  improvement  itself. 

The  just  conclusion  from  all  this  is,  that  if  the  nation 
refuse  to  make  improvements  of  the  more  general  kind, 
because  their  benefits  may  be  somewhat  local,  a  State  may,  for 
the  same  reason,  refuse  to  make  an  improvement  of  a  local 
kind,  because  its  benefits  may  be  somewhat  general.  A  State 
may  well  say  to  the  nation  :  "  If  you  will  do  nothing  for  me, 
I  will  do  nothing  for  you."  Thus  it  is  seen,  that  if  this 
argument  of  "  inequality  "  is  sufficient  anywhere,  it  is  suffi- 
cient everywhere,  and  puts  an  end  to  improvements  altogether. 
I  hope  and  believe,  that  if  both  the  nation  and  the  States 
would,  in  good  faith,  in  their  respective  spheres,  do  what  they 
could  in  the  way  of  improvements,  what  of  inequality  might 
be  produced  in  one  place  might  be  compensated  in  another, 
and  that  the  sum  of  the  whole  might  not  be  very  unequal. 
But  suppose,  after  all,  there  should  be  some  degree  of  ine- 
quality :  inequality  is  certainly  never  to  be  embraced  for  its 
own  sake ;  but  is  every  good  thing  to  be  discarded  which  may 
be  inseparably  connected  with  some  degree  of  it  ?  If  so,  we 
must  discard  all  government.  This  Capitol  is  built  at  the 
public  expense,  for  the  public  benefit ;  but  does  any  one  doubt 
that  it  is  of  some  peculiar  local  advantage  to  the  property 
holders  and  business  people  of  Washington  ?  Shall  we 
remove  it  for  this  reason?  And  if  so,  where  shall  we  set  it 
down,  and  be  free  from  the  difficulty?  To  make  sure  of  our 
object,  shall  we  locate  it  nowhere,  and  leave  Congress  here- 
after to  hold  its  sessions  as  the  loafer  lodged,  "  in  spots 
about?"  I  make  no  special  allusion  to  the  present  President 
when  I  say,  there  are  few  stronger  cases  in  this  world  of 
"burden  to  the  many,  and  benefit  to  the  few"  —  of  "ine- 
quality"—  than  the  Presidency  itself  is  by  some  thought  to 
be.  An  honest  laborer  digs  coal  at  about  seventy  cents  a 
day,  while  the  President  digs  abstractions  at  about  seventy 
dollars  a  day.  The  coal  is  clearly  worth  more  than  the 
abstractions,  and  yet  what  a  monstrous  inequality  in  the  prices  1 
Does  the  President,  for  this  reason,  propose  to  abolish  the 
Presidency  ?  He  does  not,  and  he  ought  not.  The  true  rule, 
in  determining  to  embrace  or  reject  anything,  is  not  whether 
it  have  any  evil  in  it,  but  whether  it  have  more  of  evil  than 
of  good.  There  are  few  things  tchoUy  evil  or  wholly  good. 


LIFE  OP   ABRAHAM    LINCOLN.  93 

Almost  every  tiling,  especially  of  government  policy,  is  an 
inseparable  compound  of  the  two ;  so  that  our  best  judgment  •«. 
of  the  preponderance  between  them  is  continually  demanded. 
On  this  principle,  the  President,  his  friends,  and  the  world 
generally,  act  on  most  subjects.  Why  not  apply  it,  then,  upon 
this  question  ?  Why,  as  to  improvements,  magnify  the  evil, 
and  stoutly  refuse  to  see  any  good  in  them  ? 

Mr.  Chairman,  on  the  third  position  of  the  message  (the 
Constitutional  question)  I  have  not  much  to  say.  Being  the  ' 
man  I  am,  and  speaking  when  I  do,  I  feel  that  in  any  attempt 
at  an  original,  Constitutional  argument,  I  should  not  be,  and 
ought  not  to  be,  listened  to  patiently.  The  ablest  and  the 
best  of  men  have  gone  over  the  whole  ground  long  ago.  I 
shall  attempt  but  little  more  than  a  brief  notice  of  what  some 
of  them  have  said.  In  relation  to  Mr.  Jefferson's  views,  I 
read  from  Mr.  Folk's  veto  message : 

"  President  Jefferson,  in  his  message  to  Congress  in  1806, 
recommended  an  amendment  of  the  Constitution,  with  a  view 
to  apply  an  anticipated  surplus  in  the  treasury  '  to  the  great 
purposes  of  the  public  education,  roads,  rivers,  canals,  and 
such  other  objects  of  public  improvements  as  it  may  be 
thought  proper  to  add  to  the  Constitutional  enumeration  of 
the  Federal  powers.'  And  he  adds :  '  I  suppose  an  amend- 
ment to  the  Constitution,  by  consent  of  the  States,  necessary, 
because  the  objects  now  recommended  are  not  among  those 
enumerated  in  the  Constitution,  and  to  which  it  permits  the 
public  moneys  to  be  applied.'  In  1825,  he  repeated,  in  his 
published  letters,  the  opinion  that  no  such  power  has  been 
conferred  upon  Congress." 

I  introduce  this,  not  to  controvert,  just  now,  the  Constitu- 
tional opinion,  but  to  show,  that  on  the  question  of  expediency, 
Mr.  Jefferson's  opinion  was  against  the  present  President  — 
that  this  opinion  of  Mr.  Jefferson,  in  one  branch  at  least,  is, 
in  the  hands  of  Mr.  Polk,  like  McFingal's  gun  : 

"  Bears  wide  and  kicks  the  owner  over." 

But,  to  the  Constitutional  question.  In  1826,  Chancelor 
Kent  first  published  his  Commentaries  on  American  Law. 
lie  devoted  a  portion  of  one  of  the  lectures  to  the  question 
of  the  authority  of  Congress  to  appropriate  public  moneys  for 
internal  improvements.  He  mentions  that  the  question  had 
never  been  brought  under  judicial  consideration,  and  proceeds 
to  give  a  brief  summary  of  the  discussions  it  had  undergone 
between  the  legislative  and  executive  branches  of  the  Gov- 
ernment. He  shows  that  the  legislative  branch  had  usually 
,  and  the  executive  against,  the  power,  till  the  period 


UtJ  LIFE   OP   ABRAHAM    LINCOLN. 

of  Mr.  J.  Q.  Adams'  administration;  at  which  point  he  con- 
siders the  executive  influence  as  withdrawn  from  opposition, 
and  added  to  the  support  of  the  p*wer.  In  1844,  the  Chan- 
celor  published  a  new  ed.tion  of  his  Commentaries,  in  whu-h 
he  adds  some  notes  of  what  had  transpired  on  the  question 
since  182G.  1  have  not  time  to  read  the  original  text,  or  tin; 
notes,  but  the  whole  may  be  found  on  page  267,  and  the  two 
or  three  following  pages  of  the  first  volume  of  the  edition  cf 
1844.  As  what  Chancelor  Kent  seems  to  consider  the  sum 
of  the  whole,  I  read  from  one  of  the  notes  : 

"  Mr.  Justice  Story,  in  his  Commentaries  on  the  Constitu- 
tion of  the  United  States,  vol.  2,  page  429—440,  and  again, 
page  519-538,  has  stated  at  large  the  arguments  for  and 
against  the  proposition  that  Congress  have  a  Constitutional 
authority  to  lay  taxes,  and  to  apply  the  power  to  regulate  com- 
merce, as  a  means  directly  to  encourage  and  protect  domestic 
manufactures  ;  and,  without  giving  any  opinion  of  his  own  on 
the  contested  doctrine,  he  has  left  the  reader  to  draw  his  own 
conclusion.  I  should  think,  however,  from  the  arguments  as 
stated,  that  every  mind  which  has  taken  no  part  in  the  discus- 
sions, and  felt  no  prejudice  or  territorial  bias  on  either  side  of 
the  question,  would  deem  the  arguments  in  favor  of  the  Con- 
gressional power  vastly  superior." 

It  will  be  seen,  that  in  this  extract,  the  power  to  make 
improvements  is  not  directly  mentioned  ;  but  by  examining 
the  context,  both  of  Kent  and  of  Story,  it  will  appear  that  the 
power  mentioned  in  the  extract  and  the  power  to  make 
improvements,  are  regarded  as  identical.  It  is  not  to  be 
denied  that  many  great  and  good  men  have  been  against  the 
power ;  but  it  is  insisted  that  quite  as  many,  as  great,  and  as 
good,  have  been  for  it ;  and  it  is  shown  that,  on  a  full  survey 
of  the  whole,  Chancelor  Kent  was  of  opinion  that  the  argu- 
ments of  the  latter  were  vastly  superior.  This  is  but  the 
opinion  of  a  man  ;  but  who  was  that  man?  He  was  one  of 
the  ablest  and  most  learned  lawyers  of  his  age,  or  of  any 
other  age.  It  is  no  disparagement  to  Mr.  Polk,  nor,  indeed, 
to  any  one  who  devotes  much  time  to  politics,  to  be  placed  far 
behind  Chancelor  Kent  as  a  lawyer.  His  attitude  was  most 
favorable  to  correct  conclusions.  He  wrote  coolly  and  in 
retirement.  He  was  struggling  to  rear  a  durable  monument 
of  fame ;  and  he  well  knew  that  truth  and  thoroughly  sound 
reasoning  were  the  only  sure  foundations.  Can  the  party 
opinion  of  a  party  President,  on  a  law  question,  as  this  purely 
is,  be  at  all  compared  or  set  in  opposition  to  that  of  such  a 
man,  in  such  an  attitude,  as  Chancelor  Kent? 

This  Constitutional  question  will  probably  never  be  better 


LIFE   OP   ABRAHAM   LINCOLN.  97 

settled  than  it  is,  until  it  shall  pass  under  judicial  considera- 
tion ;  but  I  do  think  that  no  man  who  is  clear  on  this  ques- 
tion of  expediency  need  feel  his  conscience  much  pricked 
upon  this. 

Mr.  Chairman,  the  President  seems  GO  think  that  enough 
may  be  done  in  the  way  of  improvements,  by  means  of  tun- 
nage  duties,  under  State  authority,  with  the  consent  of  the 
General  Government.  Now,  I  suppose  this  matter  of  tunnage 
duties  is  well  enough  in  its  own  sphere.  I  suppose  it  may  be 
efficient,  and  perhaps  sufficient,  to  make  slight  improvements 
and  repairs  in  harbors  already  in  use,  and  not  much  out  of 
repair.  But  if  I  have  any  correct  general  idea  of  it,  it  must 
be  wholly  inefficient  for  any  generally  beneficent  purposes  of 
improvement.  I  know  very  little,  or  rather  nothing  at  all, 
of  the  practical  matter  of  levying  and  collecting  tunnage 
duties  ;  but  I  suppose  one  of  its  principles  must  be,  to  lay  a 
duty,  for  the  improvement  of  any  particular  harbor,  upon  the 
tunnage  coming  into  that  harbor.  To  do  otherwise  —  to  collect 
money  in  one  harbor  to  be  expended  on  improvements  in 
another — would  be  an  extremely  aggravated  form  of  that  ine- 
quality which  the  President  so  much  deprecates.  If  I  be 
right  in  this,  how  could  we  make  any  entirely  new  improve- 
ments by  means  of  tunnage  duties?  How  make  a  road,  a 
canal,  or  clear  a  greatly  obstructed  river?  The  idea  that  we 
could,  involves  the  same  absurdity  of  the  Irish  bull  about  the 
new  boots  :  "  I  shall  niver  git  'em  on,"  says  Patrick.  "  till  I 
wear  'em  a  day  or  two,  and  stretch  'em  a  little."  We  shall 
never  make  a  canal  by  tunnage  duties,  until  it  shall  already 
have  been  made  awhile,  so  the  tunnage  can  get  into  it. 

After  all,  the  President  concludes  that  possibly  there  may 
be  some  great  objects  of  improvements  which  can  not  be 
effected  by  tunnage  duties,  and  which,  therefore,  may  be  expe- 
dient for  the  General  Government  to  take  in  hand.  Accord- 
ingly, he  suggests,  in  case  any  such  be  discovered,  the  pro- 
priety of  amending  the  Constitution.  Amend  it  for  what  ? 
If,  like  Mr.  Jefferson,  the  President  thought  improvements 
expedient,  but  not  Constitutional,  it  would  be  natural  enough 
for  him  to  recommend  such  an  amendment ;  but  hear  what  he 
says  in  this  very  message  : 

"  In  view  of  these  portentous  consequences,  I  can  not  but 
think  that  this  course  of  legislation  should  be  arrested,  even 
were  there  nothing  to  forbid  it  in  the  fundamental  laws  of  our 
Union." 

For  what,  then,*would  he  have  the  Constitution  amended? 
With  him  it  is  a  proposition  to  remove  one  impediment, 
merely  to  be  met  by  others,  which,  in  his  opinion,  cau  not  be 
9 


LIFE   OP   ABRAHAM    LINCOLN. 

removed — to  enable  Congress  to  do  what,  in  his  opinion,  they 
ought  not  to  do  if  they  could. 

[Here  Mr.  Meade,  of  Virginia,  inquired  if  Mr.  L.  under- 
stood the  President  to  be  opposed,  on  grounds  of  expediency, 
to  any  and  every  improvement?] 

To  which  Mr.  Lincoln  answered :  In  the  very  part  of  his 
message  of  which  I  am  now  speaking,  I  understand  him  as 
giving  some  vague  expressions  in  favor  of  some  possible 
objects  of  improvements  ;  but,  in  doing  so,  I  understand  him 
to  be  directly  in  the  teeth  of  his  own  arguments  in  other  parts 
of  it.  Neither  the  President,  nor  any  one,  can  possibly  specify 
an  improvement,  which  shall  not  be  clearly  liable  to  one  or 
another  of  the  objections  he  has  urged  on  the  score  of  expedi- 
ency. I  have  shown,  and  might  show  again,  that  no  work — 
no  object — can  be  so  general,  as  to  dispense  its  benefits  with 
precise  equality ;  and  this  inequality  is  chief  among  the 
"  portentous  consequences  "  for  which  he  declares  that  improve- 
ments should  be  arrested.  No,  sir  ;  when  the  President  inti- 
mates that  something  in  the  way  of  improvements  may  prop- 
erly be  done  by  the  General  Government,  he  is  shrinking /rom 
the  conclusions  to  which  his  own  arguments  would  force  him. 
He  feels  that  the  improvements  of  this  broad  and  goodly  land 
are  a  mighty  interest ;  and  he  is  unwilling  to  confess  to  the 
people,  or  perhaps  to  himself,  that  he  has  built  an  argument 
which,  when  pressed  to  its  conclusion,  entirely  annihilates  this 
interest. 

I  have  already  said  that  no  one  who  is  satisfied  of  the  expe- 
diency of  making  improvements  need  be  much  uneasy  in  his 
conscience  about  its  Constitutionality.  I  wish  now  to  submit 
a  few  remarks  on  the  general  proposition  of  amending  the 
Constitution.  As  a  general  rule,  I  think  we  would  do  much 
better  to  let  it  alone.  No  slight  occasion  should  tempt  us  to 
touch  it.  Better  not  take  the  first  step,  which  may  lead  to  a 
habit  of  altering  it.  Better  rather  habituate  ourselves  to  think 
of  it  as  unalterable.  It  can  scarcely  be  made  better  than  it  is.' 
New  provisions  would  introduce  new  difficulties,  and  thus  cre- 
ate and  increase  appetite  for  further  change.  No.  sir ;  let  it 
stand  as  it  is.  New  hands  have  never  touched  it.  The  men 
who  made  it  have  done  their  work,  and  have  passed  away. 
Who  shall  improve  on  what  they  did  ? 

Mr.  Chairman,  for  the  purpose  of  reviewing  this  message  in 
the  least  possible  time,  as  well  as  for  the  sake  of  distinctness. 
I  have  analyzed  its  arguments  as  well  as  I  could,  and  reduced 
them  to  the  propositions  I  have  stated.  I  have  now  examined 
them  in  detail.  I  wish  to  detain  the  committee  only  a  little 
while  longer,  with  some  general  remarks  on  the  subject  of 


LIFE   OF   ABRAHAM   LINCOLN.  99 

improvements.  That  the  subject  is  a  difficult  one,  can  not  be 
denied.  Still,  it  is  no  more  difficult  in  Congress  than  in  the 
State  legislatures,  in  the  counties,  or  in  the  smallest  municipal 
districts  which  everywhere  exist.  All  can  recur  to  instances 
of  this  difficulty  in  the  case  of  county  roads,  bridges,  and  the 
like.  One  man  is  offended  because  a  road  passes  over  his 
land ;  and  another  is  offended  because  it  does  not  pass  over 
his  ;  one  is  dissatisfied  because  the  bridge,  for  which  he  is 
taxed,  crosses  the  river  on  a  different  road  from  that  which 
leads  from  his  house  to  town  ;  another  can  not  bear  that  the 
county  should  get  in  debt  for  these  same  roads  and  bridges ; 
while  not  a  few  struggle  hard  to  have  roads  located  over  their 
lands,  and  then  stoutly  refuse  to  let  them  be  opened,  until  they 
are  first  paid  the  damages.  Even  between  the  different  wards 
and  streets  of  towns  and  cities,  we  find  this  same  wrangling 
and  difficulty.  Now,  these  are  no  other  than  the  very  difficul- 
ties against  which,  and  out  of  which,  the  President  constructs 
his  objections  of"  inequality,"  "  speculation,"  and  "  crushing 
the  Treasury."  There  is  but  a  single  alternative  about  them — 
they  are  sufficient,  or  they  are  not.  If  sufficient,  they  are  suffi- 
cient out  of  Congress  as  well  as  t»  it,  and  there  is  the  end. 
We  must  reject  them  as  insufficient,  or  lie  down  and  do  noth- 
ing by  any  authority.  Then,  difficulty  though  there  be,  let  us 
meet  and  overcome  it. 

"  Attempt  the  end,  and  never  stand  to  dou't ; 
Nothing  so  hard,  but  search  will  find  it  out" 

Determine  that  the  thing  can  and  shall  be  done,  and  then 
we  shall  find  the  way.  The  tendency  to  undue  expansion  is 
unquestionably  the  chief  difficulty.  How  to  do  something,  and 
still  not  to  do  too  much,  is  the  desideratum.  Let  each  con- 
tribute his  mite  in  the  way  of  suggestion.  The  late  Silas 
Wright,  in  a  letter  to  the  Chicago  convention,  contributed  his, 
which  was  worth  something ;  and  I  now  contribute  mine, 
which  may  be  worth  nothing.  At  all  events,  it  will  mislead 
nobody,  and  therefore  will  do  no  harm.  I  would  not  borrow 
money.  I  am  against  an  overwhelming,  crushing  system. 
Suppose  that  at  each  session,  Congress  shall  first  determine 
how  much  money  can,  for  that  year,  be  spared  for  improve- 
ments ;  then  apportion  that  sum  to  the  most  important  objects, 
So  far  all  is  easy  ;  but  how  shall  we  determine  which  are  the 
most  important?  On  this  question  comes  the  collision  of 
interests,  /shall  be  slow  to  acknowledge  that^o«r  harbor  or 
your  river  is  more  important  than  miw,  and  vice  versa.  To 
clear  this  difficulty,  let  us  have  that  same  statistical  informa- 
tion which  the  gentleman  from  Ohio  [Mr.  Vinton]  suggested 


100  LIFE   OF    ABRAHAM    LINCOLN. 

at  the  beginning  of  this  session.  In  that  information  we  shall 
have  a  stern,  unbending  basis  of  facts — a  basis  in  nowise  sub- 
ject to  whim,  caprice,  or  local  interest.  The  pre-limited 
amount  of  means  will  save  us  from  doing  too  much,  and  the 
statistics  will  save  us  from  doing  what  we  do,  in  wrong  places. 
Adopt  and  adhere  to  this  course,  and,  it  seems  to  me,  the  dif- 
ficulty is  cleared. 

One  of  the  gentlemen  from  South  Carolina  (Mr.  Khett) 
very  much  deprecates  these  statistics.  He  particularly  objects, 
as  I  understand  him,  to  counting  all  the  pigs  and  chickens 
in  the  land.  I  do  not  perceive  much  force  in  the  objection. 
It  is  true,  that  if  everything  be  enumerated,  a  portion  of  such 
statistics  may  not  be  very  useful  to  this  object.  Such  products 
of  the  country  as  are  to  be  consumed  where  they  are  produced, 
need  no  roads  and  rivers,  no  means  of  transportation,  and  have 
no  very  proper  connection  with  this  subject.  The  surplus, 
that  which  is  produced  in  one  place  to  be  consumed  in  another; 
the  capacity  of  each  locality  for  producing  a  greater  surplus ; 
the  natural  means  of  transportation,  and  their  susceptibility 
of  improvement;  the  hindrances,  delays,  and  losses  of  life 
and  property  during  transportation,  and  the  causes  of  each, 
would  be  among  the  most  valuable  statistics  in  this  connection. 
From  these  it  would  readily  appear  where  a  given  amount  of 
expenditure  would  do  the  most  good.  These  statistics  might 
be  equally  accessible,  as  they  would  be  equally  useful,  to  both 
the  nation  and  the  States.  In  this  way,  and  by  these  means, 
let  the  nation  take  hold  of  the  larger  works,  and  the  States 
the  smaller  ones ;  and  thus,  working  in  a  meeting  direction, 
discreetly,  but  steadily  and  firmly,  what  is  made  unequal  in 
one  place  may  be  equalized  in  another,  extravagance  avoided, 
and  the  whole  country  put  on  that  career  of  prosperity,  which 
shall  correspond  with  its  extent  of  territory,  its  natural 
resources,  and  the  intelligence  and  enterprise  of  its  people. 

The  first  session  of  the  Thirtieth  Congress  was  prolonged 
far  beyond  the  date  of  the  Presidential  nominations  of  1848, 
and  the  canvass  was  actively  carried  on  by  members  on  the 
floor  of  the  House.  Mr.  Lincoln  warmly  sustained  the  nomi- 
nation of  Gen.  Taylor,  and  before  the  adjournment  of  Con- 
gress, he  made,  in  accordance  with  precedent  and  general 
practice,  one  of  his  characteristic  campaign  speeches.  He 
showed  himself  a  man  of  decided  partizan  feelings,  and  entered 
into  this  contest  with  zeal,  not  only  repelling  the  violent  attacks 
upon  the  Wliig  candidate,  but  showing  that  there  were  blows 


LIPB  OP  ABEAHAM  LINCOLN.  101 

to  be  given  as  well  as  taken.  He  said  some  things  in  a  rein 
of  sarcastic  humor,  which  could  only  have  been  mistaken  for 
actual  bitterness,  by  those  who  did  not  know  the  really  genial 
character  of  the  man.  Argument,  ridicule  and  illustrative 
anecdotes  were  brought  into  requisition,  with  great  ability  and 
unsparing  boldness,  in  setting  the  real  issues  of  the  canvass, 
political  and  personal,  in  what  he  deemed  a  proper  light  before 
the  people. 

Although  containing  so  many  things  of  mere  temporary  inter- 
est, this  speech  will  be  read  with  avidity  at  the  present  time,  an-d 
particularly  on  account  of  several  passages  which  have  especial 
significance  from  the  position  Mr.  Lincoln  himself  now  occu- 
pies— what  had  then  probably  never  once  seriously  entered  his 
thoughts  as  among  the  events  of  the  future.  This  effort  will 
perhaps  give  occasional  offense  to  the  purist  in  style,  but  its 
manly  earnestness  and  force,  and  its  adaptedness  to  popular 
effect  as  a  campaign  document,  will  not  be  called  in  question. 
It  is  obvious  that  some  change  has  taken  place  in  Mr.  Lin- 
coln's manner  of  speaking  since  those  days,  yet  his  first 
appearance  in  the  national  arena  of  politics  exhibited  that 
rugged  strength  and  that  earnest  directness  of  expression  which 
have  given  him  permanent  power  with  popular  auditories. 

ME.  LINCOLN'S  SPEECH  ON  THE  PBESIDENCY  AND  GBNEBAL  POLITICS. 

(Delivered  in  the  Howe,  July  27,  1848.) 
GEN.  TAYLOR  AND  THE  VETO  POWER. 

Mr.  Lincoln  said 

Mr.  SPEAKER  : — Our  Democratic  friends  seem  to  be  in  great 
distress  because  they  think  our  candidate  for  the  Presidency 
don't  suit  us.  Most  of  them  can  not  find  out  that  Gen.  Taylor 
has  any  principles  at  all ;  some,  however,  have  discovered  that 
he  has  one,  but  that  that  one  is  entirely  wrong.  This  one 
principle  is  his  position  on  the  veto  power.  The  gentleman 
from  Tennessee  (Mr.  Stanton)  who  has  just  taken  his  seat, 
indeed,  has  said  there  is  very  little  if  any  difference  on  this  ques- 
tion between  Gen.  Taylor  and  all  the  Presidents  ;  and  he  seems 
to  think  it  sufficient  detraction  from  Gen.  Taylor's  position  on 
it,  that  it  has  nothing  new  in  it.  But  all  others,  whom  I  have 
heard  speak,  assail  it  furiously.  A  new  member  from  Ken- 


102  LIFE  OF  ABRAHAM   LINCOLN. 

tucky  (Mr.  Clarke*)  of  very  considerable  ability,  was  in  partic- 
ular concern  about  it.  He  thought  it  altogether  novel  and 
unprecedented  for  a  President,  or  a  Presidential  candidate,  to 
think  of  approving  bills  whose  Constitutionality  may  not  be 
entirely  clear  to  his  own  mind.  He  thinks  the  ark  of  our 
safety  is  gone,  unless  Presidents  shall  always  veto  such  bills  as, 
in  their  judgment,  may  be  of  doubtful  Constitutionality. 
However  clear  Congress  may  be  of  their  authority  to  pass  any 
particular  act,  the  gentleman  from  Kentucky  thinks  the  Presi- 
dent must  veto  it  if  he  has  doubts  about  it.  Now  I  have  neither 
time  nor  inclination  to  argue  with  the  gentleman  on  the  veto 
power  as  an  original  question ;  but  I  wish  to  show  that  Gen. 
Taylor,  and  not  he,  agrees  with  the  earliest  statesmen  on  this 
question.  When  the  bill  chartering  the  first  Bank  of  the 
United  States  passed  Congress,  its  Constitutionality  was  ques- 
tionetl ;  Mr.  Madison,  then  in  the  House  of  Representatives, 
as  well  as  others,  had  opposed  it  on  that  ground.  Gen.  Wash- 
ington, as  President,  was  called  on  to  approve  or  reject  it.  He 
sought  and  obtained,  on  the  Constitutional  question,  the  sepa- 
rate written  opinions  of  Jefferson,  Hamilton  and  Edmund  Ran- 
dolph, they  then  being  respectively  Secretary  of  State,  Secre- 
tary of  the  Treasury,  and  Attorney  General.  Hamilton's 
opinion  was  for  the  power  ;  while  Randolph's  and  Jefferson's 
were  both  against  it.  Mr.  Jefferson,  after  giving  his  opinion 
decidedly  against  the  Constitutionality  of  that  bill,  closed  his 
letter  with  the  paragraph  which  I  now  read : 

"  It  must  be  admitted,  however,  that  unless  the  President's 
mind,  on  a  view  of  everything  which  is  urged  for  and  against 
this  bill,  is  tolerably  clear  that  it  is  unauthorized  by  the  Con- 
stitution ;  if  the  pro  and  the  con  hang  so  even  as  to  balance 
his  judgment,  a  just  respect  for  the  wisdom  of  the  Legislature 
would  naturally  decide  the  balance  in  favor  of  their  opinion  ; 
it  is  chiefly  for  cases  where  they  are  clearly  misled  by  error, 
ambition  or  interest,  that  the  Constitution  has  placed  a  check 
in  the  negative  of  the  President.  THOMAS  JEFFERSON. 

"February  15,  1791." 

Gen.  Taylor's  opinion,  as  expressed  in  his  Allison  letter,  is 
as  I  now  read  : 

"  The  power  given  by  the  veto  is  a  high  conservative  power  ; 
but,  in  my  opinion,  should  never  be  exercised,  except  in  cases 
of  clear  violation  of  the  Constitution,  or  manifest  haste  and 
want  of  consideration  by  Congress." 

It  is  here  seen  that,  in  Mr.  Jefferson's  opinion,  if,  on  the 
Constitutionality  of  any  given  bill,  the  President  doubts,  he  is 

*The  late  Hon.  Beverly  L.  Clarke. 


LIFE  OP  ABRAHAM  LINCOLN.  103 

not  to  veto  it,  as  the  gentleman  from  Kentucky  would  have 
him  to  do,  but  is  to  defer  to  Congress  and  approve  it.  And  if 
we  compare  the  opinions  of  Jefferson  and  Taylor,  as  expressed 
in  these  paragraphs,  we  shall  find  them  more  exactly  alike  than 
we  can  often  find  any  two  expressions  having  any  literal  differ- 
ence. None  but  interested  fault-finders,  can  discover  any  sub- 
stantial variation. 

THE  NATIONAL  ISSUES. 

But  gentlemen  on  the  other  side  are  unanimously  agreed 
that  Gen.  Taylor  has  no  other  principle.  They  are  in  utter 
darkness  as  to  his  opinions  on  any  of  the  questions  of  policy 
which  occupy  the  public  attention.  But  is  there  any  doubt  as 
to  what  he  will  do  on  the  prominent  questions,  if  elected? 
Not  the  least.  It  is  not  possible  to  know  what  he  will  or 
would  do  in  every  imaginable  case ;  because  many  questions 
have  passed  away,  and  others  doubtless  will  arise  which  none 
of  us  have  yet  thought  of;  but  on  the  prominent  questions  of 
currency,  tariff,  internal  improvements,  and  Wilmot  proviso, 
General  Taylor's  course  is  at  least  as  well  defined  as  is  General 
Cass's.  Why,  in  their  eagerness  to  get  at  General  Taylor, 
several  Democratic  members  here  have  desired  to  know 
whether,  in  case  of  his  election,  a  bankrupt  law  is  to  be  estab- 
lished. Can  they  tell  us  General  Cass's  opinion  on  this  ques- 
tion ?  (Some  member  answered,  "  He  is  against  it.")  Aye, 
how  do  you  know  he  is  ?  There  is  nothing  about  it  in  the 
platform,  nor  elsewhere,  that  I  have  seen.  If  the  gentle-man 
knows  anything  which  I  do  not,  he  can  show  it.  But  to  return  : 
General  Taylor,  in  his  Allison  letter,  says: 

"  Upon  the  subject  of  the  tariff,  the  currency,  the  improve- 
ment of  our  great  highways,  rivers,  lakes,  and  harbors,  the  will 
of  the  people,  as  expressed  through  their  Representatives  in 
Congress,  ought  to  be  respected  and  carried  out  by  the 
Executive." 

A  PRESIDENCY   FOR  THE   PEOPLE. 

Now,  this  is  the  whole  matter — in  substance,  it  is  this :  The 
people  say  to  General  Taylor,  "  If  you  are  elected,  shall  we 
have  a  national  bank?"  He  answers,  "  Your  will,  gentlemen, 
not  mine."  "What  about  the  tariff?"  "Say  yourselves." 
"Shall  our  rivers  and  harbors  be  improved?"  "Just  as  you 
please."  "  If  you  desire  a  bank,  an  alteration  of  the  tariff, 
internal  improvements,  any  or  all,  I  will  not  hinder  you;  if 
you  do  not  desire  them,  I  will  not  attempt  to  force  them  on 
you."  "  Send  up  your  members  of  Congress  from  the  various 
districts,  with  opinions  according  to  your  own,  and  if  they  are 
for  these  measures,  or  any  of  them,  I  shall  have  nothing  to 


104  LIFE   OP   ABRAHAM    LINCOLN. 

oppose;  if  they  are  not  for  them,  I  shall  not,  by  any  appliances 
whatever,  attempt  to  dragoon  them  into  their  adoption." 
Now,  can  there  be  any  difficulty  in  understanding  this?  To 
you,  Democrats,  it  may  not  seem  like  principle ;  but  surely  you 
can  not  fail  to  perceive  the  position  plainly  enough.  The  dis- 
tinction between  it  and  the  position  of  your  candidate  is  broad 
and  obvious,  and  I  admit  you  have  a  clear  right  to  show  it  is 
wrong,  if  you. can;  but  you  have  no  right  to  pretend  you 
can  not  see  it  at  all.  "We  see  it,  and  to  us  it  appears  like  prin- 
ciple, and  the  best  sort  of  principle  at  that — the  principle  of 
allowing  the  people  to  do  as  they  please  with  their  own  business. 
My  friend  from  Indiana  (Mr.  C.  B.  Smith)  has  aptly  asked, 
"Are  you  willing  to  trust  the  people  ?"  Some  of  you  answered, 
substantially,  "  We  are  willing  to  trust  the  people ;  but  the 
President  is  as  much  the  representative  of  the  people  as  Con- 
gress." In  a  certain  sense,  and  to  a  certain  extent,  he  is  the 
representative  of  the  people.  He  is  elected  by  them,  as  well 
as  Congress  is.  But  can  he,  in  the  nature  of  things,  know  the 
wants  of  the  people  as  well  as  three  hundred  other  men  coming 
from  all  the  various  localities  of  the  nation  ?  If  so,  where  is 
the  propriety  of  having  a  Congress  ?  That  the  Constitution 
gives  the  President  a  negative  on  legislation,  all  know;  but 
that  this  negative  should  be  so  combined  with  platforms  and 
other  appliances  as  to  enable  him,  and,  in  fact,  almost  compel 
him,  to  take  the  whole  of  legislation  into  his  own  hands,  is 
what  we  object  to — is  what  General  Taylor  objects  to — and  is 
what  constitutes  the  broad  distinction  between  you  and  us. 
To  thus  transfer  legislation  is  clearly  to  take  it  from  those  who 
understand  with  minuteness  the  interest  of  the  people,  and 
give  it  to  one  who  does  not  and  can  not  so  well  understand  it. 
I  understand  your  idea,  that  if  a  Presidential  candidate  avow 
his  opinion  upon  a  given  question,  or  rather  upon  all 
questions,  and  the  people,  with  full  knowledge  of  this, 
elect  him,  they  thereby  distinctly  approve  all  those  opin- 
ions. This,  though  plausible,  is  a  most  pernicious  decep- 
tion. By  means  of  it  measures  are  adopted  or  rejected, 
contrary  to  the  wishes  of  the  whole  of  one  party,  and  often 
nearly  half  of  the  other.  The  process  is  this :  Three,  four, 
or  half  a  dozen  questions  are  prominent  at  a  given  time ; 
the  party  selects  its  candidate,  and  he  takes  his  position  on 
each  of  these  questions.  On  all  but  one  his  positions  have 
already  been  indorsed  at  former  elections,  and  his  party  fully 
committed  to  them ;  but  that  one  is  new,  and  a  large  portion 
of  them  are  against  it.  But  what  are  they  to  do  ?  The  whole 
are  strung  together,  and  they  must  take  all  or  reject  all.  They 
can  not  take  what  they  like  and  leave  the  rest.  What  they 


LIFE   OF   ABRAHAM    LINCOLN.  105 

are  already  committed  to,  being  the  majority,  they  shut  their 
eyes  and  gulp  the  whole.  Next  election,  still  another  is 
introduced  in  the  same  way.  If  we  run  our  eyes  along  the 
line  of  the  past,  we  shall  see  that  almost,  if  not  -quite,  all  the 
articles  of  the  present  Democratic  creed  have  been  at  first 
forced  upon  the  party  in  this  very  way.  And  just  now,  and 
just  so,  opposition  to  internal  improvements  is  to  be  estab- 
lished if  Gen.  Cass  shall  be  elected.  Almost  half  the  Demo- 
crats here  are  for  improvements,  but  they  will  vote  for  Cass, 
and  if  he  succeeds,  their  votes  will  have  aided  in  closing  the 
doors  against  improvements.  Now,  this  is  a  process  which  we 
think  is  wrong.  We  prefer  a  candidate  who,  like  Gen.  Taylor, 
will  allow  the  people  to  have  their  own  way  regardless  of  his 
private  opinion ;  and  I  should  think  the  internal-improve- 
ment Democrats  at  least,  ought  to  prefer  such  a  candidate.  He 
would  force  nothing  on  them  which  they  don't  want,  and  he 
would  allow  them  to  have  improvements,  which  their  own 
candidate,  if  elected,  will  not. 

GEN.   TAYLOR   AND   THE   WILMOT   PROVISO. 

Mr.  Speaker,  I  have  said  Gen.  Taylor's  position  is  as  well 
defined  as  is  that  of  Gen.  Cass.  In  saying  this,  I  admit 
I  do  not  certainly  know  what  he  would  do  on  the  Wilmot 
proviso.  I  am  a  Northern  man,  or,  rather,  a  Western  free  State 
man,  with  a  constituency  I  believe  to  be,  and  with  personal 
feelings  I  know  to  be,  against  the  extension  of  slavery.  As 
such,  and  with  what  information  I  have,  I  hope,  and  believe, 
Gen.  Taylor,  if  elected,  would  not  veto  the  proviso ;  but  I  do 
not  know  it.  Yet,  if  I  knew  he  would,  I  still  would  vote  for 
him.  I  should  do  so,  because,  in  my  judgment,  his  election 
alone  can  defeat  Gen.  Cass ;  and  because,  should  slavery 
thereby  go  into  the  territory  we  now  have,  just  so  much  will 
certainly  happen  by  the  election  of  Cass ;  and,  in  addition,  a 
course  of  policy  leading  to  new  wars,  new  acquisitions  of 
territory,  and  still  further  extensions  of  slavery.  One  of  the 
two  is  to  be  President;  which  is  preferable? 

CASS   ON    INTERNAL   IMPROVEMENTS. 

But  there  is  as  much  doubt  of  Cass  on  improvements 
as  there  is  of  Taylor  on  the  proviso.  I  have  no  doubt  myself 
of  Gen.  Cass  on  this  question,  but  I  know  the  Democrats 
differ  among  themselves  as  t<5  his  position.  My  internal 
improvement  colleague  ( Mr.  Wentworth )  stated  on  this 
floor*  the  other  day,  that  he  was  satisfied  Cass  was  for 
improvements,  because  Le  had  voted  for  all  the  bills  that  he  ( Mr. 
W.)  had.  So  far  so  good.  But  Mr.  Polk  vetoed  some  of 
10 


106  LIFE   OF   ABRAHAM    LINCOLN. 

these  very  bills ;  the  Baltimore  Convention  passed  a  set  of 
resolutions,  among  other  things,  approving  these  vetoes,  and 
Cass  declares,  in  his  letter  accepting  the  nomination,  that 
he  has  carefully  read  these  resolutions,  and  that  he  adheres  to 
them  as  firmly  as  he  approves  them  cordially.  In  other  words, 
Gen.  Cass  voted  for  the  bills,  and  thinks  the  President  did 
right  to  veto  them ;  and  his  friends  here  are  amiable  enough 
to  consider  him  as  being  on  one  side  or  the  other,  just  as  one 
or  the  other  may  correspond  with  their  own  respective  incli- 
nations. My  colleague  admits  that  the  platform  declares 
against  the  Constitutionality  of  a  general  system  of  improve- 
ments, and  that  Gen.  Cass  indorses  the  platform  ;  but  he  still 
thinks  Gen.  Cass  is  in  favor  of  some  sort  of  improvements. 
Well,  what  are  they  ?  As  he  is  against  general  objects,  those 
he  is  for,  must  be  particular  and  local.  Now,  this  is  taking 
the  subject  precisely  by  the  wrong  end.  Particularity — 
expending  the  money  of  the  whole  people  for  an  object  which 
will  benefit  only  a  portion  of  them,  is  the  greatest  real  objec- 
tion to  improvements,  and  has  been  so  held  by  Gen.  Jackson, 
Mr.  Polk,  and  all  others,  I  believe,  till  now.  But  now, 
behold,  the  objects  most  general,  nearest  free  from  this  objec- 
tion, are  to  be  rejected,  while  those  most  liable  to  it  are  to  be 
embraced.  To  return  :  I  can  not  help  believing  that  Gen. 
Cass,  when  he  wrote  his  letter  of  acceptance,  well  understood 
he  was  to  be  claimed  by  the  advocates  of  both  sides  of  this 
question,  and  that  he  then  closed  the  door  against  all  further 
expressions  of  opinion,  purposely  to  retain  the  benefits  of  that 
double  position.  His  subsequent  equivocation  at  Cleveland, 
to  my  mind,  proves  such  to  have  been  the  case. 

PLATFORMS. 

One  word  more,  and  I  shall  have  done  with  this  branch  of 
the  subject.  You  Democrats;  and  your  candidate,  in  the  main 
are  in  favor  of  laying  down,  in  advance,  a  platform — a  set  of 
party  positions,  as  a  unit;  and  then  of  enforcing  the  people, 
by  every  sort  of  appliance,  to  ratify  them,  however  unpalata- 
ble some  of  them  may  be.  We,  and  our  candidate,  are  in 
favor  of  making  Presidential  elections  and  the  legislation  of 
the  country  distinct  matters ;  so  that  the  people  can  elect 
whom  they  please,  and  afterward  legislate  just  as  they  please, 
without  any  hindrance,  save  only  so  much  as  may  guard 
against  infractions  of  the  Constitution,  undue  haste,  and  want 
of  consideration.  The  difference  between  us  is  clear  as  noon- 
day. That  we  are  right  we  can  not  doubt.  We  hold  the  true 
Republican  position.  In  leaving  the  people's  business  in 


LIFE   OP   ABRAHAM    LINCOLN.  107 

their  hands,  we  can  not  be  wrong.     We  are  willing,  and  even 
anxious,  to  go  to  the  people  on  this  issue. 

MR.  CLAY'S  DEFEAT  AND  DEMOCRATIC  SYMPATHIES. 

But  I  suppose  I  can  not  reasonably  hope  to  convince  you 
that  we  have  any  principles.  The  most  I  can  expect  is,  to 
assure  you  that  we  think  we  have,  and  are  quite  contented 
with  them.  The  other  day,  one  of  the  gentlemen  from 
Georgia  ( Mr.  Iverson ),  an  eloquent  man,  and  a  man  of 
learning,  so  far  as  I  can  judge,  not  being  learned  myself, 
came  down  upon  us  astonishingly.  He  spoke  in  what  the 
Baltimore  American  calls  the  "  scathing  and  withering  style." 
At  the  end  of  his  second  severe  flash  I  was  struck  blind,  and 
found  myself  feeling  with  my  fingers  for  an  assurance  of  my 
continued  physical  existence.  A  little  of  the  bone  was  left, 
and  I  gradually  revived.  He  eulogized  Mr.  Clay  in  high  and 
beautiful  terms,  and  then  declared  that  we  had  deserted  all 
our  principles,  and  had  turned  Henry  Clay  out,  like  an  old 
horse,  to  root.  This  is  terribly  severe.  It  can  not  be 
answered  by  argument ;  at  least,  I  can  not  so  answer  it.  I 
merely  wish  to  ask  the  gentleman  if  the  Whigs  are  the  only 
party  he  can  think  of,  who  sometimes  turn  old  horses  out  to 
root?  Is  not  a  certain  Martin  Van  Buren  an  old  horse, 
which  your  own  party  have  turned  out  to  root?  and  is  he  not 
rooting  a  little  to  your  discomfort  about  now?  But  in  not 
nominating  Mr.  Clay,  we  deserted  our  principles,  you  say. 
Ah !  in  what?  Tell  us,  ye  men  of  principles,  what  principle 
we  violated?  We  say  you  did  violate  principle  in  discarding 
Van  Buren,  and  we  can  tell  you  how.  You  violated  the 
primary,  the  cardinal,  the  one  great  living  principle  of  all 
Democratic  representative  government — the  principle  that  the 
representative  is  bound  to  carry  out  the  known  will  of  his 
constituents.  A  large  majority  of  the  Baltimore  Convention 
of  1844  were,  by  their  constituents,  instructed  to  procure 
Van  Buren's  nomination  if  they  could.  In  violation,  in 
utter,  glaring  contempt  of  this,  you  rejected  him— rejected 
him,  as  the  gentleman  from  New  York  ( Mr.  Birdsall ),  the 
other  day  expressly  admitted,  for  availability — that  same 
"  general  availability"  which  you  charge  upon  us,  and  daily 
chew  over  here,  as  something  exceedingly  odious  and  unprin- 
cipled. But  the  gentleman  from  Georgia  ( Mr.  Iverson ), 
gave  us  a  second  speech  yesterday,  all  well  considered  and 
put  down  in  writing,  in  which  Van  Buren  was  scathed  and 
withered  a  "  few"  for  his  present  position  and  movements.  I 
can  not  remember  the  gentleman's  precise  language,  but  I  do 


108  LIFE  OP  ABRAHAM   LINCOLN. 

remember  ha  put  Van  Buren  down,  down,  till  he  got  him 
where  he  was  finally  to  "stink  "  and  "rot." 

Mr.  Speaker,  it  is  no  business  or  inclination  of  mine  to 
defend  Martin  Van  Buren.  In  the  war  of  extermination  now 
waging  between  him  and  his  old  admirers,  I  say,  devil  take 
the  hindmost — and  the  foremost.  But  there  is  no  mistaking 
the  origin  of  the  breach  ;  and  if  the  curse  of  "stinking"  and 
"  rotting"  is  to  fall  on  the  first  and  greatest  violators  of  princi- 
ple in  the  matter,  I  disinterestedly  suggest,  that  the  gentleman 
from  Georgia  and  his  present  co-workers  are  bound  to  take  it 
upon  themselves. 

[Mr.  Lincoln  then  proceeded  to  speak  of  the  objections 
against  Gen.  Taylor  as  a  mere  military  hero ;  retorting  with 
effect,  by  citing  the  attempt  to  make  out  a  military  record  for 
Gen.  Cass ;  and  referring,  in  a  bantering  way,  to  his  own  ser- 
vices in  the  Black  Hawk  war,  as  already  quoted.  He  then 
said :— ] 

CASS  ON  THE  WILMOT  PROVISO. 

While  I  have  Gen.  Cass  in  hand,  I  wish  to  say  a  word  about 
his  political  principles.-  As  a  specimen,  I  take  the  record  of 
his  progress  on  the  Wilmot  Proviso.  In  the  Washington 
Union,  of  March  2,  1847,  there  is  a  report  of  the  speech  of 
Gen.  Cass,  made  the  day  before  in  the  Senate,  on  the  Wilmot 
Proviso,  during  the  delivery  of  which  Mr.  Miller,  of  New 
Jersey,  is  reported  to  have  interrupted  him  as  follows,  to-wit : 

"  Mr.  Miller  expressed  his  great  surprise  at  the  change  in 
the  sentiments  of  the  Senator  from  Michigan,  who  had  been 
regarded  as  the  great  champion  of  freedom  in  the  North-west 
of  which  he  was  a  distinguished  ornament.  Last  year  the 
Senator  from  Michigan  was  understood  to  be  decidedly  in  favor 
of  the  Wilmot  Proviso  ;  and,  as  no  reason  had  been  stated  for 
the  change,  he  (Mr.  Miller)  could  not  refrain  from  the  expres- 
sion of  his  extreme  surprise." 

To  this  Gen.  Cass  is  reported  to  have  replied  as  follows,  to- 
wit: 

"  Mr.  Cass  said,  that  the  course  of  the  Senator  from  New 
Jersey  was  most  extraordinary.  Last  year  he  (Mr.  Cass) 
should  have  voted  for  the  proposition  had  it  come  up.  But 
circumstances  had  altogether  changed.  The  honorable  Sena- 
tor then  read  several  passages  from  the  remarks  as  given  above, 
which  he  had  committed  to  writing,  in  order  to  refute  such  a 
charge  as  that  of  the  Senator  from  New  Jersey." 


LIFE   OF   ABRAHAM    LINCOLN.  109 

In  the  "remarks  above  committed  to  writing,"  is  one  num- 
bered 4,  as  follows,  to-wit : 

"  4th.  Legislation  would  now  be  wholly  imperative,  because 
no  territory  hereafter  to  be  acquired  can  be  governed  with- 
out an  act  of  Congress  providing  for  its  government.  And 
such  an  act,  on  its  passage,  would  open  the  whole  subject,  and 
leave  the  Congress,  called  on  to  pass  it,  free  to  exercise  its  own 
discretion,  entirely  uncontrolled  by  any  declaration  found  in 
the  statute  book." 

In  Niles'  Register,  vol.  73,  page  293,  there  is  a  letter  of  Gen. 
Cass  to  A.  0.  P.  Nicholson,  of  Nashville,  Tennessee,  dated 
December  24,  1847,  from  which  the  following  are  correct 
extracts  : 

"  The  Wilmot  Proviso  has  been  before  the  country  some 
time.  It  has  been  repeatedly  discussed  in  Congress,  and  by 
the  public  press.  I  am  strongly  impressed  with  the  opinion 
that  a  great  change  has  been  going  on  in  the  public  mind 
upon  this  subject — in  my  own  as  well  as  others ;  and  that 
doubts  are  resolving  themselves  into  convictions,  that  the  prin- 
ciple it  involves  should  be  kept  out  of  the  National  Legislature, 
and  left  to  the  people  of  the  Confederacy  in  their  respective 
local  Governments.  *  *  *  *  *  *  * 

"  Briefly,  then,  I  am  opposed  to  the  exercise  of  any  jurisdic- 
tion by  Congress  over  this  matter ;  and  I  am  in  favor  of  leaving 
the  people  of  any  territory  which  may  be  hereafter  acquired, 
the  right  to  regulate  it  themselves,  under  the  general  principles 
of  the  Constitution.  Because, 

"  1.  I  do  not  see  in  the  Constitution  any  grant  of  the 
requisite  power  to  Congress ;  and  I  am  not  disposed  to  extend 
a  doubtful  precedent  beyond  its  necessity — the  establishment 
of  territorial  governments  when  needed — leaving  to  the  inhab- 
itants all  the  rights  compatible  with  the  relations  they  bear  to 
the  Confederation." 

AN  OBEDIENT  DEMOCRAT. 

These  extracts  show  that,  in  1846,  Gen.  Cass  was  for  the 
Proviso  at  once;  that,  in  March,  1847,  he  was  still  for  it,,  but 
not  just  then ;  and  that  in  December,  1847,  he  was  against  it 
altogether.  This  is  a  true  index  to  the  whole  man.  When 
the  question  was  raised  in  1846,  he  was  in  a  blustering  hurry 
to  take  ground  for  it.  He  sought  to  be  in  advance,  and  to 
avoid  the  uninteresting  position  of  a  mere  follower  ;  but  soon 
he  began  to  see  glimpses  of  the  great  Democratic  ox-gad  wav- 
ing in  his  face,  and  to  hear  indistinctly,  a  voice  saying,  "back," 
"  back,  sir."  "  back  a  little."  He  shakes  his  head  and  bats  his 
eyes,  and  blunders  back  to  his  position  of  March,  1847  ;  but 


110  LIFE   OF   ABRAHAM   LINCOLN. 

still  the  gad  waves,  and  the  voice  grows  more  distinct,  and 
sharper  still — "  back,  sir  !  "  "  back,  I  say  !  "  "  further  back  !  " 
and  back  he  goes  to  the  position  of  December,  1847 ;  at  which 
the  gad  is  still,  and  the  voice  soothingly  says — "  So  !  "  "  Stand 
still  at  that." 

Have  no  fears,  gentlemen,  of  your  candidate ;  he  exactly 
suits  you,  and  we  congratulate  you  upon  it.  However  much 
you  may  be  distressed  about  our  candidate,  you  have  all  cause 
to  be  contented  and  happy  with  your  own.  If  elected,  he  may 
not  maintain  all,  or  even  any  of  his  positions  previously  taken  ; 
but  he  will  be  sure  to  do  whatever  the  party  exigency,  for  the 
time  being,  may  require ;  and  that  is  precisely  what  you  want. 
He  and  Van  Buren  are  the  same  "  manner  of  men ;  "  and  like 
Van  Buren,  he  will  never  desert  you  till  you  first  desert  him. 

[After  referring  at  some  length  to  extra  "  charges  "  of  Gen. 
Cass  upon  the  Treasury,  Mr.  Lincoln  continued : — ] 

WONDERFUL   PHYSICAL  CAPACITIES. 

But  I  have  introduced  Gen.  Cass's  accounts  here,  chiefly  to 
show  the  wonderful  physical  capacities  of  the  man.  They 
show  that  he  not  only  did  the  labor  of  several  men  at  the  same 
time,  but  that  he  often  did  it,  at  several  places  many  hundred 
miles  apart,  at  (he  same  time.  And  at  eating,  too,  his  capaci- 
ties are  shown  to  be  quite  as  wonderful.  From  October,  1821, 
to  May,  1822,  he  ate  ten  rations  a  day  in  Michigan,  ten  rations 
a  day  here,  in  Washington,  and  near  five  dollar's  worth  a  day 
besides,  partly  on  the  road  between  the  two  places.  And  then 
there  is  an  important  discovery  in  his  example — the  art  of 
being  paid  for  what  one  eats,  instead  of  having  to  pay  for  it. 
Hereafter,  if  any  nice  young  man  shall  owe  a  bill  which  he 
can  not  pay  in  any  other  way,  he  can  just  board  it  out.  Mr. 
Speake'r,  we  have  all  heard  of  the  animal  standing  in  doubt 
between  two  stacks  of  hay,  and  starving  to  death ;  the  like  of 
that  would  never  happen  to  Gen.  Cass.  Place  the  stacks  a 
thousand  miles  apart,  he  would  stand  stock-still,  midway 
between  them,  and  eat  them  both  at  once ;  and  the  green  grass 
along  the  line  would  be  apt  to  suffer  some  too,  at  the  same 
time.  By  all  means,  make  him  President,  gentlemen.  He 
will  feed  you  bounteously — if — if  there  is  any  left  after  he 
shall  have  helped  himself. 

THE   WHIGS   AND   THE   MEXICAN   WAR. 

But  as  Gen.  Taylor,  is,  par  excellence,  the  hero  of  the  Mexi- 
can warj  and,  as  you  Democrats  say  we  Whigs  have  always 


LIFE  OF  ABRAHAM  LINCOLN.  Ill 

opposed  the  war,  you  think  it  must  be  very  awkward  and 
embarrassing  for  us  to  go  for  Gen.  Taylor.  The  declaration 
that  we  have  always  opposed  the  war,  is  true  or  false  accordingly 
as  one  may  understand  the  term  "  opposing  the  war."  If  to 
gay  "  the  war  was  unnecessarily  and  unconstitutionally  com- 
menced by  the  President,"  be  opposing  the  war,  then  the 
Whigs  have  very  generally  opposed  it.  Whenever  they  have 
spoken  at  all,  they  have  said  this ;  and  they  have  said  it  on 
what  has  appeared  good  reason  to  them :  The  marching 
an  army  into  the  midst  of  a  peaceful  Mexican  settlement, 
frightening  the  inhabitants  away,  leaving  their  growing  crops 
and  other  property  to  destruction,  to  you  may  appear  a  per- 
fectly amiable,  peaceful,  unprovoking  procedure ;  but  it  does 
not  appear  so  to  us.  So  to  call  such  an  act,  to  us  appears  no 
other  than  a  naked,  impudent  absurdity,  and  we  speak  of  it 
accordingly.  But  if,  when  the  war  had  begun,  and  had  be- 
come the  cause  of  the  country,  the  giving  of  our  money  and 
our  blood,  in  common  with  yours,  was  support  of  the  war,  then 
it  is  not  true  that  we  have  always  opposed  the  war.  With  few 
individual  exceptions,  you  have  constantly  had  our  votes  here 
for  all  the  necessary  supplies.  And,  more  than  this,  you  have 
had  the  services,  the  blood,  and  the  lives  of  our  political  breth- 
ren in  every  trial,  and  on  every  field.  The  beardless  boy  and 
the  matui'e  man — the  humble  and  the  distinguished,  you  have 
had  them.  Through  suffering  and  death,  by  disease  and  in 
battle,  they  have  endured,  and  fought,  and  fallen  with  you. 
Clay  and  Webster  each  gave  a  son,  never  to  be  returned.  From 
the  State  of  my  own  residence,  besides  other  worthy  but  less 
known  Whig  names,  we  sent  Marshall,  Morrison,  Baker,  and 
Hardin  ;  they  all  fought,  and  one  fell,  and  in  the  fall  of  that 
one,  we  lost  our  best  Whig  man.  Nor  were  the  Whigs  few  in 
number,  or  laggard  in  the  day  of  danger.  In  that  fearful, 
bloody,  breathless  struggle  at  Buena  Vista,  where  each  man's 
hard  task  was  to  beat  back  five  foes,  or  die  himself,  of  the  five 
high  officers  who  perished,  four  were  Whigs. 

In  speaking  of  this,  I  mean  no  odious  comparison  between 
the  lion-hearted  Whigs  and  Democrats  who  fought  there.  On 
other  occasions,  and  among  the  lower  officers  and  privates  on 
that  occasion,  I  doubt  not  the  proportion  was  different.  I 
wish  to  do  justice  to  all.  I  think  of  all  those  brave  men  as 
Americans,  in  whose  proud  fame,  as  an  American,  I  too  have 
a  share.  Many  of  them,  Whigs  and  Democrats,  are  my  con- 
stituents and  personal  friends;  and  I  thank  them — more  than 
thank  them — one  and  all,  for  the  high,  imperishable  honor 
they  have  conferred  on  our  common  State. 


112  LIFE  OP  ABRAHAM   LINCOLN. 

AN    IMPORTANT  DISTINCTION. 

But  the  distinction  between  the  cause  of  the  President  in 
beginning  the  war,  and  the  cause  of  the  country  after  it  was 
begun,  is  a  distinction  which  you  can  not  perceive.  To  you, 
the  President  and  the  country  seem  to  be  all  one.  You  are 
interested  to  see  no  distinction  between  them;  and  I  venture 
to  suggest  that  possibly  your  interest  blinds  you  a  little.  We 
see  the  distinction,  as  we  think,  clearly  enough  ;  and  our 
friends,  who  have  fought  in  the  war,  have  no  difficulty  in  see- 
ing it  also.  What  those  who  have  fallen  would  say,  were  they 
alive  and  here,  of  course  we  can  never  know  ;  but  with  those 
who  have  returned  there  is  no  difficulty.  Col.  Haskell  and 
Maj.  Gaines,  members  here,  both  fought  in  the  war;  and  one  of 
them  underwent  extraordinary  perils  and  hardships  ;  still  they, 
like  all  other  Whigs  here,  vote  on  the  record  that  the  war  was 
unnecessarily  and  unconstitutionally  commenced  by  the  Presi- 
dent. And  even  Gen.  Taylor  himself,  the  noblest  Koman  of 
them  all,  has  declared  that,  as  a  citizen,  and  particularly  as  a 
soldier,  it  is  sufficient  for  him  to  know  that  his  country  is  at 
war  with  a  foreign  nation,  to  do  all  in  his  power  to  bring  it  to 
a  speedy  and  honorable  termination,  by  the  most  vigorous  and 
energetic  operations,  without  inquiring  about  its  justice,  or 
anything  else  connected  with  it. 

Mr.  Speaker,  let  our  Democratic  friends  be  comforted  with 
the  assurance  that  we  are  content  with  our  position,  content 
with  our  company,  and  contentrwith  our  candidate  ;  and  that 
although  they,  in  their  generous  sympathy,  think  we  ought  to 
be  miserable,  we  really  are  not,  and  that  they  may  dismiss  the 
great  anxiety  they  have  on  our  account. 

Mr.  Lincoln  concluded  with  some  allusions  to  the  then  divid- 
ed condition  of  the  New  York  Democracy. 

This  session  of  Congress  came  to  a  close  on  the  14th  day  of 
August.  The  chief  points  of  Mr.  Lincoln's  Congressional 
record,  thus  far,  have  been  noticed,  and  his  principal  speeches 
given  at  length.  He  stood  firmly  by  the  side  of  John  Q<ftncy 
Adams,  in  favor  of  the  unrestricted  right  of  petition,  as  will 
be  seen  by  his  vote,  among  others,  against  laying  on  the  table 
a  petition  presented  by  Caleb  B.  Smith  (December  27,  1847) 
praying  for  the  abolition  of  slavery  and  the  slave-trade  in  tho 
District  of  Columbia.  He  favored  a  liberal  policy  toward 
the  people  in  disposing  of  the  public  lands,  as  indicated  by 


LIFE   OF   ABRAHAM    LINCOLN.  113 

his  imperfectly  reported  remarks  (May  11,  1848),  at  the  time 
of  the  passage  of  the  bill  admitting  Wisconsin  into  the  Union 
as  a  State.  He  -was  careful  to  scrutinize  particular  claims,  to 
satisfy  which  he  was  asked  to  vote  for  an  appropriation,  as  in 
the  case  of  the 'proposition  to  pay  the  Texas  volunteers  for 
lost  horses  (May  4,  1848).  All  his  acts  show  a  purpose  to 
do  his  duty  to  the  country,  no  less  than  to  his  immediate  con- 
stituents, without  fear  or  favor. 

After  the  session  closed,  Mr.  Lincoln  made  a  visit  to  New  Eng- 
land, «vhere  he  delivered  some  effective  campaign  speeches, 
which  were  enthusiastically  received  by  his  large  audiences,  as 
appears  from  the  reports  in  the  journals  of  those  days,  and  as 
will  be  remembered  by  thousands.  His  time,  however,  was 
chiefly  given,  during  the  Congressional  recess,  to  the  canvass 
in  the  West,  where,  through  the  personal  strength  of  Mr. 
Cass  as  a  North-western  man,  the  contest  was  more  severe  and 
exciting  than  in  any  other  part  of  the  country.  The  final 
triumph  of  Gen.  Taylor,  over  all  the  odds  against  him,  did 
much  to  counterbalance,  in  Mr.  Lincoln's  mind,  the  disheart- 
ening defeat  of  four  years  previous.  As  before  stated,  he  had 
declined  to  be  a  candidate  for  re-election  to  Congress,  yet  he 
had  the  satisfaction  of  aiding  to  secure,  in  his  own  district,  a 
majority  of  1,500  for  the  Whig  Presidential  candidates. 

Mr.  Lincoln  again  took  his  seat  in  the  House  in  December, 
on  the  reassembling  of  the  thirtieth  Congress  for  its  second 
session.  Coming  between  the  Presidential  election,  which 
had  effected  a  political  revolution,  and  the  inauguration  of  the 
new  Government,  this  session  was  generally  a  quiet  one,  passing 
away  without  any  very  important  measures  of  general  legisla- 
tion being  acted  upon.  A  calm  had  followed  the  recent 
storms.  There  were,  indeed,  certain  movements  in  regard  to 
slavery  and  the  slave-trade  in  the  District  of  Columbia,  which 
produced  some  temporary  excitement,  but  resulted  in  no  seri- 
ous commotion.  On  the  21st  of  December,  Mr.  Gott,  a  repre- 
sentative from  New  York,  introduced  a  resolution,  accompanied 
»by  a  strong  preamble  instructing  the  Committee  on  the  District 
of  Columbia  to  report  a  bill  prohibiting  the  slave-trade  in  the 
District.  The  language'  used  was  as  follows  : 
10 


114  LIFE   OF   ABRAHAM    LINCOLN. 

WHEREAS,  The  traffic  now  prosecuted  in  this  metropolis  of 
the  Republic  in  human  beings,  as  chattels,  is  contrary  to  natural 
justice  and  the  fundamental  principles  of  our  political  system, 
and  is  notoriously  a  reproach  to  our  country  throughout  Chris- 
tendom, and  a  serious  hindrance  to  the  progress  of  republican 
liberty  among  the  nations  of  the  earth :  Therefore, 

Resolved,  That  the  Committee  for  the  District  of  Columbia 
be  instructed  to  report  a  bill,  as  soon  as  practicable,  prohibit- 
ing the  slave-trade  in  said  District. 

Mr.  Haralson,  of  Georgia,  moved  to  lay  the  same  on  the 
table,  and  the  yeas  and  nays  were  taken  on  his  motion.  Mr. 
Lincoln,  Joseph  R.  Ingersoll,  Richard  W.  Thompson,  and 
George  G.  Dunn,  were  nearly  or  quite  the  only  Northern 
Whigs  who  voted  in  the  affirmative.  The  motion  was  lost, 
and  the  resolution,  under  pressure  of  the  previous  question,  was 
adopted,  ninety-eight  to  eighty-eight,  Mr.  Lincoln  voting  in 
the  negative.  A  motion  to  reconsider  this  vote  came  up  for 
action  on  the  27th  of  the  same  month.  A  motion  to  lay 
on  the  table  the  motion  to  reconsider  having  been  lost, 
(yeas  58,  nays  107 — Mr.  Lincoln  voting  in  the  negative), 
the  subject  was  postponed  until  the  10th  of  January.  At 
that  date,  Mr.  Lincoln  read  a  substitute  which  he  proposed 
to  offer  for  the  resolution,  in  case  of  a  reconsideration. 
This  substitute  contained  the  form  of  a  bill  enacting  that 
no  person  not  already  within,  the  District  should  be  held  in 
slavery  therein,  and  providing  for  the  gradual  emancipation  of 
the  slaves  already  within  the  District,  with  compensation  to  the 
owners,  if  a  majority  of  the  legal  voters  of  the  District  should 
assent  to  the  act,  at  an  election  to  be  holden  for  the  purpose. 
It  made  an  exception  of  the  right  of  citizens  of  the  slavehold- 
ing  States,  coming  to  the  District  on  public  business,  to  "  be 
attended  into  and  out  of  said  District,  and  while  there,  by  the 
necessary  servants  of  themselves  and  their  families."  These 
were  the  chief  provisions  of  the  measure  contemplated  by  Mr. 
Lincoln,  which  compared  favorably  with  the  act  prohibiting  the 
slave-trade  in  the  District,  included  among  the  Compromise 
measures  of  1850.  After  rehearsing  the  details  of  his  bill, 
according  to  the  report  in  the  Congressional  Globe — 

Mr.  Lincoln  then  said,  that  he  was  authorized  to  say,  that 


LIFE  OP  ABRAHAM    LINCOLN.  115 

of  about  fifteen  of  the  leading  citizens  of  the  District  of  Co- 
lumbia to  whom  this  proposition  had  been  submitted,  there  waa 
no  one  but  who  approved  of  the  adoption  of  such  a  proposi- 
tion.  He  did  not  wish  to  be  misunderstood.  He  did  not  know 
whether  or  not  they  would  vote  for  this  bill  on  the  first  Mon- 
day of  April ;  but  he  repeated,  that  out  of  fifteen  persons  to 
whom  it  had  been  submitted,  he  had  authority  to  say  that 
every  one  of  them  desired  that  some  proposition  like  this 
should  pass. 

A  motion  to  lay  on  the  table  the  proposition  to  reconsider 
was  again  lost,  and  by  a  much  larger  majority  than  before, 
and,  the  resolution  was  reconsidered,  119  to  81.  Mr.  Smith, 
of  Indiana,  then  moved  the  following  substitute : 

Resolved,  That  the  Committee  on  the  District  of  Columbia 
be  instructed  to  report,  as  soon  as  practicable,  a  bill  so  amend- 
ing the  present  law  in  this  District,  as  effectually  to  prevent 
the  bringing  of  slaves  into  the  District,  either  for  sale  here,  or 
to  be  sold  and  carried  to  any  place  beyond  the  District. 

Mr.  Meade,  of  Virginia,  offered  the  following  as  an  amend- 
ment to  Mr.  Smith's  amendment : 

And  that  the  said  committee  is  hereby  instructed  to  report 
a  bill  more  effectually  to  enable  owners  to  recover  their  slaves 
escaping  from  one  State  into  another. 

Here,  it  is  observable,  are  two  of  the  propositions  which 
were  ultimately  embraced  in  the  great  Compromise  "  settle- 
ment "  of  1850,  and  these  several  amendments,  proposed  by 
Mr.  Lincoln  and  others,  may  be  termed  the  springs,  in  Con- 
gress, from  which  flowed  a  portion  of  that  celebrated  series  of 
measures. 

The  Speaker  (Mr.  Winthrop)  ruled  Mr.  Meade's  amend- 
ment out  of  order,  and  without  any  decisive  action  thereon, 
the  House  adjourned,  leaving  the  resolution  and  amendments 
to  disappear  among  the  files  of  unfinished  business  on  the 
Speaker's  table. 

An  unsuccessful  attempt  had  previously  been  made  by  Mr. 
Palfrey,  of  Massachusetts,  a  Free-Soil  member  who  refused  to 
vote  for  Mr.  Winthrop  for  Speaker,  to  introduce  a  bill  "  to 
repeal  all  acts,  or  parts  of  acts,  of  Congress  establishing  or 
maintaining  slavery  or  the  slave-trade  in  the  District  of  Colum- 


116  LIFE   OP   ABRAHAM    LINCOLN, 

bia."  Mr.  Holmes,  of  South  Carolina,  having  objected,  the 
yeas  and  nays  were  taken  on  gfanting  the  leave  asked,  and  the 
negative  prevailed  by  thirteen  majority.  The  Northern  Whigs 
in  general,  excepting  Messrs.  Vinton  and  Dunn,  and  many 
Northern  Democrats,  including  John  Wentworth,  David 
Wilmot,  and  J.  J.  Faran,  of  Ohio,  voted  in  the  affirmative. 
Mr.  Lincoln's  name  is  recorded  among  the  nays.  So  sweep- 
ing and  unqualified  a  measure  he  has  ever  been  opposed  to,  as 
he  avowed  himself  to  be  in  1858,  and  has  never  hesitated,  from 
a  fear  of  popular  misapprehension,  to  vote  in  strict  accord- 
ance with  his  own  convictions.  «£*•>  ''. 

On  the  31st  of  January,  Mr.  Edwards,  from  the  Committee 
on  the  District  of  Columbia,  reported  a  bill,  suitably  guarded 
in  its  terms,  prohibiting  the  slave-trade  in  the  District.  On  a 
motion  to  lay  this  on  the  table,  Mr.  Lincoln  voted  in  the  neg- 
ative, with  the  friends  of  that  measure,  who  were  a  majority. 
This  bill,  however,  passed  over  among  the  unfinished  business 
of  the  session. 

In  regard  to  the  grant  of  public  lands  to  the  new  States,  to 
aid  in  the  construction  of  railroads  and  canals,  Mr.  Lincoln 
favored  the  interests  of  his  own  constituents,  under  such  rea- 
sonable restrictions  as  the  proper  carrying  out  of  the  purpose 
of  these  grants  required.  This  policy  had  been  strongly 
opposed  by  Mr.  Vinton,  while  one  of  the  bills  of  this  sort  was 
pending.  In  the  brief  remarks  which  Mr.  Lincoln  offered  in 
reply,  there  are  some  points  (Congressional  Globe,  page  533) 
worth  quoting  here : 

In  relation  to  the  fact  assumed,  that,  after  a  while,  the  new 
States,  having  got  hold  of  the  public  lands  to  a  certain  extent, 
would  turn  round  and  compel  Congress  to  relinquish  all 
claim  to  them,  he  had  a  word  to  say,  by  way  of  recurring  to 
the  history  of  the  past.  When  was  the  time  to  come  (he 
asked)  when  the  States  in  which  the  public  lands  were  sit- 
uated  would  compose  a  majority  of  the  representation  in 
Congress,  or  any  thing  like  it.  A  majority  of  Representa- 
tives would  very  soon  reside  West  of  the  mountains,  he 
admitted ;  but  would  they  all  come  from  States  in  •which  the 
public  lands  were  situated  ?  They  certainly  would  not ;  for, 
as  these  Western  States  grew  strong  in  Congress,  the  public 
lands  passed  away  from  them,  and  they  got  on  the  other  side 


LIFE  OF  ABRAHAM    LINCOLN.  117 

of  the  question,  and  the  gentleman  from  Ohio  (Mr.  Vinton) 
was  an  example  attesting  that  fact. 

Mr.  Vinton  interrupted  here  to  say,  that  he  had  stood  upon 
this  question  just  where  he  was  now,  for  five-and-twenty 
years. 

Mr.  Lincoln  was  not  making  an  argument  for  the  purpose 
of  convicting  the  gentleman  of  any  impropriety  at  all.  He 
was  speaking  of  a  fact  in  history,  of  which  his  State  was  an 
example.  He  was  referring  to  a  plain  principle  in  the  nature 
of  things.  The  State  of  Ohio  had  now  grown  to  be  a  giant. 
She  had  a  large  delegation  on  that  floor ;  but  was  she  now  in 
favor  of  granting  lands  to  the  new  States  as  she  used  to  be? 
The  New  England  States,  New  York,  and  the  Old  Thirteen, 
were  all  rather  quiet  upon  the  subject ;  and  it  was  seen  just 
now  that  a  member  from  one  of  the  new  States  was  the  first 
man  to  rise  up  in  opposition.  And  so  it  would  be  with  the 
history  of  this  question  for  the  future.  There  never  would 
come  a  time  when  the  people  residing  in  the  States  embracing 
the  public  lands  would  have  the  entire  control  of  this  subject ; 
and  so  it  was  a  matter  of  certainty  that  Congress  would  never 
do  more  in  this  respect  than  what  would  be  dictated  by  a  just 
liberality.  The  apprehension,  therefore,  that  the  public  lands 
were  in  danger  of  being  wrested  from  the  General  Govern- 
ment by  the  strength  of  the  delegation  in  Congress  from  the 
new  States,  was  utterly  futile.  There  never  could  be  such  a 
thing.  If  we  take  these  lands  (said  he)  it  will  not  be  without 
your  consent.  We  can  never  outnumber  you.  The  result  is, 
that  all  fear  of  the  new  States  turning  against  the  right  of 
Congress  to  the  public  domain  must  be  effectually  quelled,  as 
those  who  are  opposed  to  that  interest  must  always  hold  a  vast 
majority  here,  and  they  will  never  surrender  the  whole  or  any 
part  of  the  public  lands  unless  they  themselves  choose  so  to 
do.  This  was  all  he  desired  to  say. 

With  the  termination  of  the  Thirtieth  Congress,  by  Consti- 
tutional limitation,  on  the  4th  of  March,  1849,  Mr.  Lincoln's 
career  as  a  Congressman  came  to  a  close.  He  had  refused  to 
"be  a  candidate  for  re-election  in  a  district  that  had  given  him 
over  1,500  majority  in  1846,  and  nearly  the  same  to  General 
Taylor,  as  the  Whig  candidate  for  the  Presidency  in  1848.  It 
does  not  appear  that  he  desired  or  would  have  accepted  any 
place  at  Washington  among  the  many  at  the  disposal  of  the 
incoming  Administration,  in  whose  behalf  he  had  so  zealously 
labored.  He  retired  once  more  to  private  life,  renewing  the 


118  LIFE  OP  ABRAHAM   LINCOLN. 

professional  practice  which  had  been  temporarily  interrupted 
by  his  public  employment.  The  duties  of  his  responsible 
position  had  been  discharged  with  assiduity  and  with  fearless 
adherence  to  his  convictions  of  right,  under  whatever  circum- 
stances. Scarcely  a  list  of  yeas  and  nays  can  be  found,  for 
either  session,  which  does  not  contain  his  name.  He  was 
never  conveniently  absent  on  any  critical  vote.  He  never 
shrank  from  any  responsibility  which  his  sense  of  justice 
impelled  him  to  take.  His  record,  comparatively  brief  as  it 
is,  is  no  doubtful  one,  and  will  bear  the  closest  scrutiny. 
And  though  one  of  the  youngest  and  most  inexperienced 
members  of  an  uncommonly  able  and  brilliant  Congress,  he 
would  long  have  been  remembered,  without  the  more  recent 
events  which  have  naturally  followed  upon  his  previous  career, 
as  standing  among  the  first  in  rank  of  the  distinguished 
statesmen  of  the  Thirtieth  Congress. 


LIFE   OF   ABRAHAM   LINCOLN.  119 


CHAPTER  IX. 

PROFESSIONAL   LITE. — THE    ANTI-NEBRASKA    CANVASS. — 

1849—1854. 

Mr.  Lincoln  in  Retirement  for  Five  Years. — Gen.  Taylor's  Administra- 
tion.—The  Slavery  Agitation  of  1850. — The  Compromise  of  Clay  and 
Fillmore.— The  "  Final  Settlement"  of  1852.— How,  and  by  Whom  it 
•was  Disturbed.— Violation  of  the  Most  Positive  Pledges.— The  Kansas- 
Nebraska  Bill. — Douglas,  the  Agitator. — Popular  Indignation  and 
Excitement. — Mr.  Lincoln  Takes  Part  in  the  Canvass  of  1854. — Great 
Political  Changes. — The  Anti-Nebraska  Organization. — Springfield 
Resolutions  of  1854.— Results  of  the  Election. — A  Majority  of  Con- 
gressmen and  of  the  Legislature  Anti-Nebraska. — Election  of  United 
States  Senator  to  Succeed  Gen.  Shields.— Mr.  Lincoln  and  Mr.  Trum- 
bull. — A  Magnanimous  Sacrifice. — Mr.  Trumbull  Elected. 

DURING  the  five  years  immediately  following  the  close  of  his 
Congressional  life,  Mr.  Lincoln  attentively  pursued  his  profes- 
sion of  the  law.  He  took  no  active  part  in  politics  through 
the  period  of  Gen.  Taylor's  administration,  or  in  any  of  the 
exciting  scenes  of  1850.  His  great  political  leader,  Henry 
Clay,  had  resumed  his  place  in  the  Senate,  and  was  earnestly 
striving — one  of  the  last  great  labors  of  his  life — to  avert  the 
dangers  to  the  country,  which  he  believed  to  be  threatened  by 
the  fierce  contests  over  the  question  of  Slavery.  It  was,  with  the 
slave  States,  a  desperate  struggle  to  retain  the  balance  of  power 
in  the  Senate,  by  rejecting  the  application  of  another  free 
State  for  admission,  the  granting  of  which  would  destroy  the 
exact  equilibrium  then  existing.  The  policy  of  admitting  a 
slave  State  along  with  every  new  free  one,  had  substantially 
prevailed  for  years ;  but,  at  this  time,  despite  the  extensive 
additions  of  Mexican  territory,  there  was  no  counterbalancing 
slave  State  ready  for  admission.  The  exclusion  of  slavery 


120  LIFE   OP   ABRAHAM    LINCOLN. 

from  California  had,  in  fact,  been  rather  a  surprisc^nnd  this 
application  was  evidently  still  more  an  irritating  circumstance 
for  that  reason.  And  yet  this  movement  was  in  strict  accord- 
ance with  the  policy  of  a  Southern  President.  As  a  final 
result,  the  admission  of  California  was  only  carried  by  means 
of  great  counterbalancing  concessions  on  the  part  of  the  free 
States.  For  months  after,  there  was  much  discontent  in  both 
eections,  in  regard  to  the  compromise  measures  of  1850,  which 
were  defeated  in  Congress,  when  first  acted  upon  as  a  whole, 
but  were  ultimately  carried  in  detail.  It  was  not  until  1852, 
when  both  the  great  parties  of  the  country  agreed  to  accept 
those  measures  as  a  "  final  settlement "  of  the  slavery  contro- 
versy, that  public  sentiment,  North  and  South,  appeared  to 
have  become  fully  reconciled  to  this  adjustment.  The  Admin- 
istration, brought  into  power  by  the  election  of  that  year,  was 
most  thoroughly  and  sacredly  committed  to  the  maintenance 
of  this  settlement,  and  against  the  revival  of  the  Slavery  agita- 
tion in  any  form.  To  introduce  that  subject,  under  any  pre- 
tense, into  the  halls  of  Congress,  was  an  act  of  wanton  incen- 
diarism, in  utter  disregard  of  most  solemn  pledges,  by  the  aid 
of  which  the  Democratic  party  had  secured  whatever  real  hold 
it  had  upon  popular  confidence.  Such  was  the  state  of  affairs 
in  1852,  and  at  the  time  of  Mr.  Pierce's  inauguration  in  1853. 

Mr.  Lincoln,  as  a  private  citizen,  engrossed  with  his  profes- 
sional duties,  had  borne  no  part  in  the  original  controversy, 
and  had  taken  no  share  in  its  settlement.  Whether  preferring 
the  non-intervention  policy  of  President  Taylor,  or  the  com- 
promise course  of  Clay  and  Fillmore,  he  had  undoubtedly 
regarded  the  peace  established,  by  means  of  the  latter,  as  one 
that  ought  by  all  means  to  be  preserved,  and  the  pledges  of 
both  sections  of  the  country,  through  the  action  of  both  the 
national  parties,  as  religiously  binding  upon  every  public  man 
who  had  openly  or  tacitly  assented  thereto.  That  he  approved 
all  the  details  of  this  compromise  is  not  probable.  But  that, 
if  faithfully  adhered  to,  the  practical  results  would  have  been 
eatisfactory,  he  was  undoubtedly  convinced. 

The  introduction  of  the  Kansas-Nebraska  bill,  in  1854.  in 
the  midst  of  this  profound  peace  on  the  slavery  question,  was 


LIFE   OP   ABRAHAM   LINCOLN.  121 

"  the  alarm  of  the  fire-bell  at  night"  which  startled  Mr.  Lin- 
coln in  the  repose  of  his  private  life,  and  showed  that  the 
incendiary  had  but  too  successfully  been  at  his  work.  The 
solemn  pledge  of  peace  had  been  violated  by  the  very  men 
who  were  most  forward  in  making  it,  and  most  noisy  in  their 
professions  of  a  desire  that  the  slavery  conflict  should  cease. 
This  new  agitating  movement,  not  only  unsettling  all  the  more 
recent  stipulations  made  for  the  sake  of  peace,  but  even  going 
back  to  destroy  the  only  condition  yet  assailable,  of  the  Com- 
promise of  1820,  and  that  the  very  portion  which  was  agreed 
on  as  a  consideration  to  the  free  States,  was  led  by  the  ambi- 
tious politician  of  Illinois,  Stephen  A.  Douglas.  Not  only 
had  this  unscrupulous  agitator  committed  himself  as  fully  as 
man  could  do  to  the  maintenance  of  peace  on  this  question, 
after  the  compromise  of  1850,  but  he  had,  a  year  previous, 
called  down  vengeance  upon  the  hand  that  would  dare  disturb 
the  time-honored  Missouri  compact — that  settlement  which 
secured  freedom  "forever"  to  the  soil  embraced  within  the 
limits  of  Kansas  and  Nebraska.  Yet  the  first  hand  raised  for 
the  commission  of  this  incalculable  wrong  was  his  own ! 
Douglas  himself  reported  the  act  which  violated  that  com- 
pact, and  which  opened  the  new  territories  to  slavery  (pro- 
fessedly, pot  really,  at  the  option  of  the  people),  contrary  to 
the  spirit  of  all  the  early  legislation,  and  to  the  hitherto  uni- 
form course  of  the  Government.  Even  he  himself  had  recently 
voted  for  the  Wilmot  Proviso  as  applied  to  the  territory 
acquired  from  Mexico,  and  Mr.  Polk  had  approved  the  Oregon 
bill,  containing  the  same  restriction.  Never  was  there  more 
universal  indignation  among  the  people  of  the  North,  and 
many  of  the  more  sagacious  statesmen  of  the  South  clearly 
foresaw  the  mischiefs  that  were  to  follow  from  this  sacrilege. 
Yet  strange  to  say,  this  measure  sundered  and  broke  up  the 
Whig  party  forever,  through  the  action  of  a  large  portion  of 
the  Southern  "Whig  Congressmen,  in  joining  the  Democracy  in 
this  act  of  bad  faith,  for  the  sake  of  supposed  sectional  advant- 
age. The  most  intense  excitement  prevailed  throughout  the 
country,  and  the  destruction  of  the  old  party  lines  was  effect- 
ually accomplished. 
11 


122  LIFE   OF   ABRAHAM    LINCOLN. 

These  events  called  forth  Mr.  Lincoln  once  more  to  do  battle 
for  the  right.  He  entered  into  the  canvass  of  1854,  as  one  of 
the  most  active  leaders  of  the  "Anti-Nebraska"  movement. 
He  addressed  the  people  repeatedly  from  the  stump,  with  all 
his  characteristic  earnestness  and  energy.  He  met  and  cowed 
the  author  of  the  "  Nebraska  iniquity,"  in  the  presence  of  the 
masses,  and  powerfully  aided  in  effecting  the  remarkable  polit- 
ical changes  of  that  year  in  Illinois. 

The  incendiary  act  had  come  to  the  final  vote,  in  the  Senate, 
on  the  26th  day  of  May.  About  the  first  of  August,  Congress 
adjourned.  Douglas  lingered  by  the  way  on  his  return  to  his 
constituents,  and  reached  Chicago  near  the  close  of  that  month. 
Here  he  met  a  storm  of  indignation  from  the  people,  whom  for 
manifesting  their  disapprobation  of  his  conduct,  he  compla- 
cently termed  a  "  mob."  He  had  proposed  to  speak  in  self- 
vindication,  on  the  evening  of  the  first  day  of  September. 
He  was  received  with  the  most  decisive  demonstrations  of 
popular  indignation,  which  he  attempted  to  face  down  with  an 
insufferable  insolence  of  manner,  that  only  tended  to  increase 
the  excitement  against  him.  After  long  perseverance  in  an 
attempt  to  compel  a  hearing,  he  was  forced  to  succumb. 
All  over  the  State  he  early  discovered  the  same  state  of  feeling 
existed  among  a  large  portion  of  his  constituents,  although 
there  was  no  refusal  to  hear  him,  except  in  this  first  unlucky 
effort  to  defy  and  silence  a  crowd  by  bullying  deportment. 
The  popular  rage  gradually  subsided,  but  the  deliberate  senti- 
ment of  the  people  of  Illinois  on  this  subject  has  only  been 
confirmed  and  strengthened  against  him  with  time.  From 
commanding  a  large  majority  of  the  popular  vote,  as  he  had 
done  previously,  his  strength  dwindled  away,  until,  for  years 
past,  he  and  the  party  that  sustained  him,  have  been  in  a  pos- 
itive minority  in  the  State.  The  reader  can  judge  how  much 
this,  to  him,  painful  truth,  had  to  do  with  the  change  of  policy 
adopted  by  him,  in  opposing  the  Lecompton  Constitution,  the 
legitimate  fruit  of  the  Kansas-Nebraska  bill,  and  substantially 
approved  by  him  in  advance,  in  a  speech  made  in  Springfield, 
in  1857. 

Mr.  Douglas  visited  several  parts  of  the  State,  vainly  attempt- 


OP   ABRAHAM    LINCOLN.  123 

ing,  by  ingenious  but  sophistical  addresses  to  the  people  to 
avert  the  impending  revolution.  Mr.  Lincoln  met  him  in 
debate  at  Springfield,  during  the  time  of  the  State  Fair,  early 
in  October,  1854,  and  the  encounter  was  a  memorable  one  in 
the  great  campaign  then  in  progress.  They  met  a  few  days  later 
at  Peoria,  where  Mr.  Douglas  had  no  better  fortune.  Subse- 
quently to  that  encounter,  he  showed  a  decided  preference  for 
speaking  at  other  times  and  places  than  Mr.  Lincoln. 

The  Anti-Nebraska  organization,  formed  at  Springfield  in 
October  of  that  year,  and  embracing  men  of  all  parties  opposed 
to  the  reckless  measures  which  had  introduced  the  most 
violent  agitation  in  regard  to  slavery  ever  known  in  the  coun- 
try, was  the  beginning  from  which  the  Kepublican  party  in 
Illinois  was  to  be  matured.  Among  the  resolutions  at  that 
time  adopted,  after  setting  forth  in  a  preamble  that  a  majority 
of  Congress  had  deliberately  and  wantonly  re-opened  the  con- 
troversy respecting  the  extension  of  slavery  under  our  national 
jurisdiction,  which  a  majority  of  the  people  had  understood  to 
be  closed  forever  by  the  successive  compromises  of  1820  and 
1850,  were  the  following  : 

Resolved,  That  the  doctrine  affirmed  by  the  Nebraska  Bill, 
and  gilded  over  by  its  advocates  with  the  specious  phrases  of 
non-intervention  and  popular  sovereignty,  is  really  and  clearly 
a  complete  surrender  of  all  the  ground  hitherto  asserted  and 
maintained  by  the  Federal  Government,  with  respect  to  the 
limitation  of  slavery,  is  a  plain  confession  of  the  right  of  the 
slaveholder  to  transfer  his  human  chattels  to  any  part  of  the 
public  domain,  and  there  hold  them  as  slaves  as  long  as  inclin- 
ation or  interest  may  dictate ;  and  that  this  is  an  attempt 
totally  to  reverse  the  doctrine  hitherto  uniformly  held  by 
statesmen  and  jurists,  that  slavery  is  the  creature  of  local  and 
State  law,  and  to  make  it  a  national  institution. 

Resolved,  That  as  freedom  is  national  and  slavery  sectional  and 
local,  the  absence  of  all  law  upon  the  subject  of  slavery  pre- 
sumes the  existence  of  a  state  of  freedom  alone,  while  slavery 
exists  only  by  virtue  of  positive  law. 

Resolved,  That  we  heartily  approve  the  course  of  the  freemen 
of  Connecticut,  Vermont,  Iowa,  Ohio,  Indiana,  Wisconsin, 
New  York,  Michigan  and  Maine,  postponing  or  disregarding 
their  minor  difference  of  opinion  or  preferences,  and  acting 
together  cordially  and  trustingly  in  the  same  cause  of  freedom, 


124  LIFE   OP   ABRAHAM   LINCOLN. 

of  free  labor,  and  free  soil,  and  we  commend  their  spirit  to  the 
freemen  of  this  and  other  States,  exhorting  each  to  re- 
nounce his  party  whenever  and  wherever  that  party  proves 
unfaithful  to  human  freedom. 

In  behalf  of  these  principles,  Mr.  Lincoln  had  already 
taken  the  stump,  and  for  them  he  did  valiant  service  in  various 
parts  of  the  State. 

This  new  party  was  organized  late  in  the  season,  and  the 
canvass  for  Treasurer,  the  only  State,  officer  to  be  elected,  was 
but  imperfectly  made.  In  some  parts  of  the  State,  there  was 
even  no  distribution  of  tickets  containing  the  name  of  this 
candidate.  The  result,  even  under  these  unfavorable  circum-_ 
stances,  and  in  spite  of  the  overwhelming  Democratic  prepond- 
erance during  the  previous  twenty-five  years,  was  extremely 
close,  and  for  a  long  time  doubtful.  The  Democratic  candidate 
barely  escaped  defeat.  This  was  the  last  election  in  which 
the  party  sustaining  Douglas  has  had  even  the  appearance  of 
a  majority  in  Illinois.  The  revolution  was  now  substantially 
accomplished.  From  that  day  to  the  present  the  Opposition 
party  has  been  steadily  gaining  in  strength,  and  that  of  Mr. 
Douglas  sinking  more  and  more  into  a  hopeless  minority. 
Even  the  temporary  reaction,  under  the  Anti-Lecompton  flag, 
was  more  apparent  than  real. 

Of  the  nine  Congressional  Districts,  the  Opposition  now, 
for  the  first  time,  carried  a  majority,  electing  five  members, 
and  the  Democrats  four.  The  Legislature  would  have  been 
completely  revolutionized,  in  both  branches,  with  little  doubt, 
but  for  the  large  number  of  Democrats  "  holding  over,"  as 
members  of  the  new  Senate.  In  the  House,  the  Anti-Nebraska 
representatives  numbered  forty,  and  the  Democratic  thirty- 
five.  In  the  Senate,  there  were  seventeen  elected  as  Demo- 
crats, and  eight  as  Opposition  men.  Of  the  former,  however, 
there  were  three,  elected  two  years  previously,  who  repudiated 
Dotfglas  and  his  policy,  and  inclined  to  the  Opposition. 
These  were  Norman  B.  Judd,  J.  M.  Palmer,  and  B.  C.  Cook. 
Reckoning  these  with  the  Anti-Nebraska  side,  the  Senate 
stood,  Op"pX)sition  eleven,  Democrats  fourteen — leaving  a 


LIFE  OP  ABRAHAM  LINCOLN.  125 

majority  against  the  Douglas  Democracy  of  two  on  joint 
ballot. 

A  United  States  Senator,  to  succeed  Gen.  Shields  on  the 
4th  of  March,  1855,  was  to  be  chosen  by  this  Legislature. 
For  the  first  time  in  the  history  of  Illinois,  the  election  of  an 
Opposition  Senator  was  within  the  reach  of  possibility.  Mr. 
Lincoln  was  the  first  choice  of  the  great  mass  of  the  Opposi- 
tion for  this  position.  From  his  prominence,  for  a  long  time, 
in  the  old  Whig  party,  it  was  but  natural  that  a  portion  of 
the  members  having  Democratic  antecedents  who  had  come 
into  the  new  organization,  should  hesitate  to  give  Mr.  Lin- 
coln their  votes.  This  was  especially  true  of  the  three 
Senators  above  named  as  holding  over,  they  having  been 
elected  as  regular  Democrats.  Under  this  state  of  things,  it 
was  manifest,  after  a  few  ballots,  that,  with  the  close  vote  in 
joint  convention  the  election  of  a  Democrat,  not  to  be  cer- 
tainly relied  on  as  an  opponent  of  the  Douglas  policy,  and  at 
best  uncommitted  in  regard  to  the  new  party  organization, 
might  be  the  result  of  adhering  to  Mr.  Lincoln.  He,  accord- 
ingly, with  the  self-sacrificing  disposition  which  had  always 
characterized  him,  promptly  appealed  to  his  Whig  friends  to 
go  over  in  a  solid  body  to  Mr.  Trumbull,  a  man  of  Demo- 
cratic antecedents,  who  could  command  the  full  vote  of  the 
Anti-Nebraska  Democrats.  By  these  earnest  and  disinterested 
efforts,  the  difficult  task  was  accomplished,  great  as  was  the 
sacrifice  of  personal  feeling  which  it  cost  the  devoted  friends 
of  Mr.  Lincoln.  On  the  part  of  himself  and  them,  it  involved 
the  exercise  of  a  degree  of  self-denial  and  magnanimity,  as 
rare  as  it  was  noble.  It  demonstrated  their  honest  attachment 
to  the  great  cause  for  which  old  party  lines  had  been  aban- 
doned, and  their  sincere  purpose  of  thoroughly  ignoring  all 
differences  founded  on  mere  partizan  prejudice.  It  cemented 
the  union  of  these  Anti-Nebraska  elements,  and  consolidated 
the  new  organization  into  a  permanent  party. 

The  joint  convention  for  electing  a  United  States  Senator 
met  on  the  8th  day  of  February,  1855.  On  the  first  ballot, 
James  Shields,  then  Senator,  who  had  been  induced  by 


126  LIFE  OP  ABRAHAM  LINCOLN. 

Douglas,  against  his  own  better  judgment,  to  vote  for  the 
Kansas-Nebraska  bill,  received  41  votes,  and  three  other 
Democrats  had  one  vote  each.  Abraham  Lincoln  had  45 
votes,  Lyman  Trumbull  5,  Mr.  Koerner  2,  and  there  were 
three  other  scattering  votes.  On  the  seventh  ballot,  the 
Democratic  vote  was  concentrated  upon  Gov.  Matteson,  with 
two  exceptions,  and  he  received  also  the  votes  of  two  Anti- 
Nebraska  Democrats,  making  44  in  all.  On  the  tenth  ballot, 
Mr.  Trumbull  was  elected,  in  the  way  just  explained,  receiving 
51  votes  and  Mr.  Matteson  47.  Every  Whig  vote  but  one 
was  given  to  Mr.  Trumbull. 

Among  the  speeches  delivered  by  Mr.  Lincoln  in  this 
memorable  campaign,  which  gave  the  Eepublicans  an  able 
Senator  from  Illinois,  and  which  effectually  accomplished  the 
overthrow  of  the  Democracy  in  that  State,  perhaps  the  ablest 
and  most  characteristic  was  the  one  delivered  at  Peoria, 
important  portions  of  which  were  quoted  by  him  in  the 
canvass  with  Douglas,  four  years  later. 


LIFE   OF   ABRAHAM    LINCOLN.  127 


CHAPTER  X. 

POLITICAL   MOVEMENTS   IN  1856   AND   '57. 

The  Republican  Party  Organized. — Their  Platform  adopted  at  Blooming- 
ton. — The  Canvass  of  1856. — Mr.  Lincoln  Sustains  Fremont  and  Day- 
ton.— His  Active  Labors  on  the  Stump. — Col.  Bissell  Elected  Governor 
of  Illinois. — Mr.  Buchanan  Inaugurated. — His  Kansas  Policy. — Mr. 
Douglas  Committed  to  it  in  June,  1857. — John  Calhoun  His  Special 
Friend.— The  Springfield  Speech  of  Douglas. — Mr.  Lincoln's  Reply. 

MR.  LINCOLN  took  an  active  part  in  the  formation  of  the 
.Republican  party  as  such.  The  State  convention  of  that 
organization  which  met  at  Bloomington,  on  the  29th  of  May, 
1856,  sent  delegates  to  the  Philadelphia  Convention  of  that 
year,  held  for  the  nomination  of  Presidential  candidates. 
The  resolutions  of  the  Bloomington  Convention,  in  place  of 
•which  Mr.  Douglas  produced  an  entirely  different  series  on  the 
stump,  in  1858,  are  subjoined  in  full : 

WHEREAS,  The  present  Administration  has  prostituted  its 
powers,  and  devoted  all  its  energies  to  the  propagation  of 
slavery,  and  to  its  extension  into  Territories  heretofore  dedi- 
cated to  freedom,  against  the  known  wishes  of  the  people  of  such 
Territories,  to  the  suppression  of  the  freedom  of  speech,  and 
of  the  press ;  and  to  the  revival  of  the  odious  doctrine  of  con- 
structive treason,  which  has  always  been  the  resort  of  tyrants, 
and  their  most  powerful  engine  of  injustice  and  oppression  ; 
and  whereas,  we  are  convinced  that  an  effort  is  making  to 
subvert  the  principles,  and  ultimately  to  change  the  form  of 
our  Government,  and  which  it  becomes  all  patriots,  all  who 
love  their  country,  and  the  cause  of  human  freedom,  to  resist ; 
therefore 

Resolved,  That  foregoing  all  former  differences  of  opinion 
upon  other  questions,  we  pledge  ourselves  to  unite  in  opposition 
to  the  present-Administration,  and  to  the  party  which  upholds 
and  supports  it,  and  to  use  all  honorable  and  Constitutional 


128  LIFE   OP   ABRAHAM    LINCOLN. 

means  to  wrest  the  government  from  the  unworthy  hands 
which  now  control  it,  and  to  bring  it  back  in  its  administration 
to  the  principles  and  practices  of  Washington,  Jefferson  and 
their  great  and  good  compatriots  of  the  Revolution. 

Resolved,  That  we  hold,  in  accordance  with  the  opinions 
and  practices  of  all  the  great  statesmen  of  all  parties,  for  the 
first  sixty  years  of  the  administration  of  the  Government,  that, 
under  the  Constitution,  Congress  possesses  full  power  to  pro- 
hibit slavery  in  the  Territories ;  and  that  while  we  will  main- 
tain all  Constitutional  rights  of  the  South,  we  also  hold  that 
justice,  humanity,  the  principles  of  freedom  as  expressed  in 
our  Declaration  of  Independence,  and  our  National  Constitu- 
tion, and  the  purity  and  perpetuity  of  our  Government  require 
that  that  power  should  be  exerted,  to  prevent  the  extension  of 
slavery  into  Territories  heretofore  free. 

Resolved,  That  the  repeal  of  the  Missouri  Compromise  was 
unwise,  unjust  and  injurious;  in  open  and  aggravated  viola- 
tion of  the  plighted  faith  of  the  States,  and  that  the  attempt 
of  the  present  Administration  to  force  slavery  into  Kansas 
against  the  known  wishes  of  the  legal  voters  of  that  Territory, 
is  an  arbitrary  and  tyrannous  violation  of  the  rights  of  the 
people  to  govern  themselves,  and  that  we  will  strive  by  all 
Constitutional  means,  to  secure  to  Kansas  and  Nebraska  the 
legal  guaranty  against  slavery,  of  which  they  were  deprived,  at 
the  cost  of  the  violation  of  the  plighted  faith  of  the  nation. 

Resolved,  That  we  are  devoted  to  the  Union,  and  will,  to 
the  last  extremity,  defend  it  against  the  efforts  now  being  made 
by  the  Disunionists  of  this  Administration  to  compass  its  dis- 
solution ;  and  that  we  will  support  the  Constitution  of  the 
United  States  in  all  its  provisions,  regarding  it  as  the  sacred 
bond  of  our  Union,  and  the  only  safeguard  for  the  preserva- 
tion of  the  rights  of  ourselves  and  our  posterity. 

Resolved,  That  we  are  in  favor  of  the  immediate  admission 
of  Kansas  as  a  member  of  this  Confederacy,  under  the  Consti- 
tution adopted  by  the  people  of  said  Territory. 

Resolved,  That  the  spirit  of  our  institutions,  as  well  as  the 
Constitution  of  our  country,  guarantees  the  liberty  of  con- 
science as  well  as  political  freedom,  and  that  we  will  proscribe 
no  one  by  legislation  or  otherwise,  on  account  of  religious 
opinions,  or  in  consequence  of  place  of  birth. 

Resolved,  That  in  Lyman  Trumbull,  our  distinguished  Sen- 
ator, the  people  of  Illinois  have  an  able  and  consistent  expo- 
nent of  their  principles,  and  that  his  course  in  the  Senate 
meets  with  our  unqualified  approbation. 


LIFE   OF   ABRAHAM    LINCOLN.  129 

With  this  creed,  and  the  Philadelphia  platform,  subsequently 
adopted,  the  Republicans  of  Illinois  went  into  the  canvass  of 
1856.  Mr.  Lincoln  labored  earnestly  during  the  campaign,  sus- 
taining the  nominations  of  FREMONT  and  DAYTON.  In  the 
State  canvass,  Col.  Wm.  H.  Bissel  received  the  united  support 
of  the  Opposition  for  Governor,  and  was  elected  by  a  decisive 
majority.  On  the  Presidential  candidates,  there  being,  unfor- 
tunately, two  tickets  in  the  field,  the  divided  Opposition  were 
unsuccessful,  although  Fremont,  in  spite  of  the  heavy  Fill- 
more  vote  ran  so  closely  upon  Buchanan  that  the  result  was 
for  a  time  in  doubt,  and  only  the  nearly  solid  vote  of 
"Egypt"  decided  the  result  in  favor  of  the  latter.  The 
untiring  exertions  of  Mr.  Lincoln  on  the  stump,  in  enlighten- 
ing the  people  as  to  the  real  issues  involved,  did  much  toward 
securing  this  remarkable  vote. 

Mr.  Buchanan  came  into  power  in  March,  1857,  and  the 
hopes  which  had  been  entertained  of  a  material  change,  under 
his  administration,  of  the  unjust  and  execrable  policy  hitherto 
pursued  toward  Kansas,  were  speedily  dissipated.  After  some 
little  show  of  resistance  at  first,  he  was  soon  found  acting  in 
accordance  with  the  dictates  of  the  extreme  pro-slavery  inter- 
est. A  deep  scheme  was  concocted,  into  the  secrets  of  which 
even  the  Governor  and  Secretary  of  that  Territory  were  not 
admitted,  for  forcing  Kansas  into  the  Union  as  a  slave  State. 
This  plot  began  to  be  suspected,  and  its  existence  more  and 
more  confirmed  by  the  course  of  events,  not  long  after  Mr. 
Buchanan's  inauguration.  The  thin  vail  of  "  bogus  Popular 
Sovereignty,"  with  which  Douglas  had  tried  to  hide  the  naked 
deformity  of  the  act  under  which  Kansas  and  Nebraska  were 
organized,  was  to  be  rent  asunder.  People  were  beginning  to 
look  with  curiosity  for  the  next  evasion  or  artful  afterthought 
by  which  he  would  attempt  to  escape  the  force  of  a  public 
sentiment  which  was  already  rapidly  bearing  him  dow"n,  before 
this  more  complete  exposure  became  inevitable.  This  interest 
in  his  course  was  the  more  lively,  for  the  reason  that  his  Sena- 
torial term  had  nearly  expired,  and  that,  without  some  remark- 
able change  of  affars,  or  some  ingenious  device,  the  curse  he 


130  LIFE   OF   ABRAHAM    LINCOLN. 

had  himself  pronounced  in  evidence  upon  the  disturber  of  the 
Missouri  compact,  was  to  he  most  signally  realized. 

Meantime,  the  machinery  had  been  put  in  motion  for  a 
Convention  at  Lecompton,  which  was  to  ratify  a  Constitution 
prepared  at  Washington,  under  Administration  auspices,  and 
to  secure  the  great  purpose  intended  by  the  Southern  sup- 
porters of  the  Kansas-Nebraska  scheme.  How  grossly  unjust 
and  unequal  were  the  provisions  of  the  act  calling  this  Con- 
vention, and  how  deliberate  was  its  design  of  excluding  the 
free  State  men  from  any  effectual  voice  in  determining  "  the 
domestic  institutions  "  of  a  State  in  which  the  party  of  free 
labor  comprised  about  four-fifths  of  the  people,  as  had  already 
been  distinctly  indicated,  need  not  be  here  rehearsed.  ,To 
Douglas,  at  least,  the  real  facts  were  not  unknown.  That 
these  iniquities  must  all  ultimately  come  out,  and  receive  the 
condemnation  of  the  people,  he  can  not  have  seriously  ques- 
tioned. Yet,  in  spite  of  these  facts,  it  is  undeniably  true,  and 
is  clearly  of  record,  that  he  committed  himself  in  advance — 
not  at  all  uncertain,  most  assuredly,  as  to  what  it  was  sub- 
stantially to  be — in  favor  of  the  Lecompton  Constitution. 
John  Calhoun,  the  chosen  instrument  of  the  Administration 
for  carrying  out  its  plot  to  defeat  "  Popular  Sovereignty  "  in 
Kansas,  was  one  of  the  special  friends  of  Douglas,  and  under- 
stood to  share  his  intimate  confidence.  And  when,  in  his 
speech  at  Springfield,  in  June,  1857,  Mr.  Douglas  substan- 
tially indorsed  the  Lecompton  Convention  and  its  doings, 
beforehand,  no  one  had  any  reason  to  doubt  that  he  intended 
fully  to  sustain  the  Administration  in  attempting  to  force  a 
slave  Constitution  on  the  people  of  Kansas — a  process  for 
which  his  "  organic  act"  had  prepared  the  way.  In  the  course 
of  his  remarks  on  that  occasion,  he  said : 

Kansas  is  about  to  speak  for  herself  through  her  delegates 
assembled  in  convention  to  form  a  Constitution,  preparatory 
to  her  admission  into  the  Union  on  an  equal  footing  with  the 
original  States.  Peace  and  prosperity  now  prevail  throughout 
her  borders.  The  law  under  which  her  delegates  are  about  to 
be  elected  is  believed  to  be  just  and  fair  in  all  its  objects  and 
provisions.  There  is  every  reason  to  hope  and  believe  that 


LIFE   OP   ABRAHAM    LINCOLN.  131 

the  law  will  be  fairly  interpreted  and  impartially  executed,  so 
as  to  insure  to  every  bona  fide  inhabitant  the  free  and  quiet 
exercise  of  the  elective  franchise.  If  any  portion  of  the 
inhabitants,  acting  under  the  advice  of  political  leaders  in 
distant  States,  shall  choose  to  absent  themselves  from  the  polls, 
and  withhold  their  votes,  with  a  view  of  leaving  the  free 
State  Democrats  in  a  minority,  and  thus  securing  a  pro- 
slavery  Constitution  in  opposition  to  the  wishes  of  a  majority 
of  the  people  living  under  it,  let  the  responsibility  rest  on 
those  who,  for  partizan  purposes,  will  sacrifice  the  principles 
they  profess  to  cherish  and  promote.  Upon  them  and  upon 
the  political  party  for  whose  benefit  and  under  the  direction 
of  whose  leaders  they  act,  let  the  blame  be  visited  of  fastening 
upon  the  people  of  a  new  State  institutions  repugnant  to  their 
feelings  and  in  violation  of  their  wishes. 

Words  could  not  have  more  positively  indicated  his  purpose 
of  sustaining  all  the  acts  of  the  Lecompton  Convention,  or 
that  he  anticipated  the  formation  of  a  pro-slavery  Constitution, 
for  which  he  meant  to  charge  the  blame  upon  the  free  State 
men  and  upon  the  Republican  party  in  general,  anticipating 
then  that  the  non-voting  policy  would  be  adopted.  In  a  sub- 
sequent part  of  this  same  speech,  he  still  more  fully  and  unre- 
servedly indorsed  the  act  providing  for  the  Lecompton  Con- 
stitutional- Convention,  committing  himself  to  all  its  legitimate 
consequences.  He  said : 

The  present  election  law  in  Kansas  is  acknowledged  to  be 
fair  and  just — the  rights  of  the  voters  are  clearly  defined — 
and  the  exercise  of  those  rights  will  be  efficiently  and  scru- 
pulously protected.  Hence,  if  the  majority  of  the  people  of 
Kansas  desire  to  have  it  a  free  State  (and  we  are  told  by 
the  Republican  party  that  nine-tenths  of  the  people  of  that 
Territory  are  free  State  men),  there  is  no  obstacle  in  the  way 
of  bringing  Kansas  into  the  Union  as  a  free  State,  by  the  votes 
and  voice  of  her  oivn  people,  and  in  conformity  with  the  great 
principles  of  the  Kansas-Nebraska  act ;  provided  all  the  free 
State  men  will  go  to  the  polls,  and  vote  their  principles  in 
accordance  with  their  professions.  If  such  is  not  the  result, 
let  the  consequences  be  visited  upon  the  heads  of  those  whose 
policy  it  is  to  produce  strife,  anarchy,  and  bloodshed  in  Kan- 
sas, that  their  party  may  profit  by  slavery  agitation  in  the 
northern  States  of  this  Union.  That  the  Democrats  in  Kan- 
sas will  perform  their  duty  fearlessly  and  nobly,  according  to 


132  LITE  OP  ABRAHAM  LINCOLN. 

the  principles  they  cherish,  I  have  no  doubt,  and  that  the 
result  of  the  struggle  will  be  such  as  will  gladden  the  heart 
and  strengthen  the  hopes  of  every  friend  of  the  Union,  I  have 
entire  confidence. 

The  Lecompton  Convention  was  to  settle  the  whole  Kansas 
controversy,  "  peacefully  and  satisfactorily,"  according  to  the 
professed  faith  of  Mr.  Douglas.  He  fully  indorsed  it  in  its 
origin,  and  committed  himself  to  abide  by  its  results,  which 
were  accomplished  through  the  instrumentality  of  one  of  his 
warmest  personal  friends.  And  what  these  results  would  be, 
in  his  opinion,  he  clearly  foreshadowed  in  the  extracts  above 
given  from  his  speech.  He  expected  a  pro-slavery  Constitu- 
tion, and  he  repeatedly  approved,  without  any  reservation,  the 
convention-act  which,  by  its  regular  carrying-out,  accomplished 
that  expectation.  He  declared,  substantially,  that  the  will  of 
the  people  could  be  fully  and  fairly  expressed  in  forming  a 
Constitution  at  Lecompton,  under  that  act ;  and  that  if  they 
did  not  obtain  such  a  Constitution  as  they  desired,  it  would 
be  their  oicn  fault — plainly  implying  that  they  must  submit  to 
such  action  as  should  be  taken.  He  left  himself  scarcely  a 
loophole  of  retreat,  whatever  might  come  of  the  Lecompton 
Convention. 

In  the  same  speech  Mr.  Douglas  spoke  at  length  in  indorse- 
ment of  the  dogmas  embraced  in  what  is  popularly  called  the 
Dred  Scott  decision,  and  particularly  of  the  one  which  denies 
the  power  of  Congress  to  exclude  slavery  from  the  Territories. 
He  tried,  also,  to  convey  the  impression  that  the  K«publican 
party  was  in  favor  of  negro  equality,  because  dissenting  in 
general  to  a  judicial  opinion,  of  which  one  of  the  details  is  a 
denial  to  the  negro  race  of  any  legal  redress  for  wrongs  in  the 
higher  courts. 

A  third  subject  of  this  speech  was  the  Utah  rebellion,  which 
Mr.  Douglas  proposed  to  end  by  annulling  the  act  establishing 
the  Territory  of  Utah. 

To  this  speech  Mr.  Lincoln  replied  at  Springfield,  two  weeks 
later.  It  is  noticeable  that  the  first  two  of  the  topics  of  Mr. 
Douglas's  speech  formed  leading  subjects  of  the  great  canvass 
of  the  next  year.  It  is  not  impossible  that  this  prompt  joining 


LIFE  OF   ABRAHAM    LINCOLN.  133 

of  issues  may  have  had  its  influence  in  inducing  Mr.  Douglas 
BO  completely  to  change  front,  before  another  twelve-month 
had  passed.  In  any  event,  these  two  speeches  have  a  rare 
interest,  from  their  immediate  relations  to  the  coming  contest, 
of  which  they  are  properly  the  prelude.  We  give  Mr.  Lin- 
coln's remarks  at  length: 

SPEECH  OF  MB.  LINCOLN,  IN   REPLY  TO  ME.  DOUGLAS,  ON  KANSAS, 

THE  DRED  SCOTT  DECISION,  AND  THE  UTAH  QUESTION. 

(Delivered  at  Springfield,  lll^  June  26,  1857.) 

FELLOW-CITIZENS  : — I  am  here,  to-night,  partly  by  the  invi- 
tation of  some  of  you,  and  partly  by  my  own  inclination.  Two 
weeks  ago  Judge  Douglas  spoke  here,  on  the  several  subjects 
of  Kansas,  the  Dred  Scott  decision,  and  Utah.  I  listened  to 
the  speech  at  the  time,  and  have  read  the  report  of  it  since. 
It  was  intended  to  controvert  opinions  which  I  think  just,  and 
to  assail  (politically,  not  personally)  those  men  who,  in  com- 
mon with  me,  entertain  those  opinions.  For  this  reason  I 
wished  then,  and  still  wish  to  make  some  answer  to  it,  which  I 
now  take  the  opportunity  of  doing. 

I  begin  with  Utah.  If  it  prove  to  be  true,  as  is  probable, 
that  the  people  of  Utah  are  in  open  rebellion  against  the  United 
States,  then  Judge  Douglas  is  in  favor  of  repealing  their  terri- 
torial organization,  and  attaching  them  to  the  adjoining  States 
for  judicial  purposes.  I  say,  too,  if  they  are  in  rebellion,  they 
ought  to  be  somehow  coerced  to  obedience  ;  and  I  am  not  now 
prepared  to  admit  or  deny,  that  the  Judge's  mode  of  coercing 
them  is  not  as  good  as  any.  The  Republicans  can  fall  in  with 
it,  without  taking  back  anything  they  have  ever  said.  To  be 
sure,  it  would  be  a  considerable  backing  down  by  Judge  Doug- 
las, from  his  much  vaunted  doctrine  of  self-government  for 
the  territories;  but  this  is  only  additional  proof  of  what 
was  very  plain  from  the  beginning,  that  that  doctrine  was  a 
mere  deceitful  pretense  for  the  benefit  of  slavery.  Those  who 
could  not  see  that  much  in  the  Nebraska  act  itself,  which 
forced  Governors,  and  Secretaries,  and  Judges  on  the  people 
of  the  territories,  without  their  choice  or  consent,  could  not  be 
made  to  see,  though  one  should  rise  from  the  dead. 

But  in  all  this,  it  is  very  plain  the  Judge  evades  the  only 
question  the  Republicans  have  ever  pressed  upon  the  Democ- 
racy in  regard  to  Utah.  That  question  the  Judge  well  knew 
to  be  this :  "  If  the  people  of  Utah  shall  peacefully  form  a 
State  Constitution  tolerating  polygamy,  will  the  Democracy 
admit  them  into  the  Union?"  There  is  nothing  in  the  Uni- 
ted Suites  Constitution  or  law  against  polygamy ;  and  why  is  it 


134  LIFE   OP   ABRAHAM   LINCOLN. 

not  a  part  of  the  Judge's  "sacred  right  of  self-government" 
for  the  people  to  have  it,  or  rather  to  keep  it,  if  they  choose  ? 
These  questions,  so  far  as  I  know,  the  Judge  never  answers. 
It  might  involve  the  Democracy  to  answer  them  either  way, 
and  they  go  unanswered. 

As  to  Kansas.  The  substance  of  the  Judge's  speech  on 
Kansas  is  an  effort  to  put  the  Free  State  men  in  the  wrong  for 
not  voting  at  the  election  of  delegates  to  the  Constitutional 
Convention.  He  says :  "  There  is  every  reason  to  hope  and 
believe  that  the  law  will  be  fairly  interpreted  and  impartially 
executed,  so  as  to  insure  to  every  bona  fide  inhabitant  the  free 
and  quiet  exercise  of  the  elective  franchise." 

It  appears  extraordinary  that  Judge  Douglas  should  make 
such  a  statement.  He  knows  that,  by  the  law,  no  one  can  vote 
who  has  not  been  registered  ;  and  he  knows  that  the  Free  State 
men  place  their  refusal  to  vote  on  the  ground  that  but  few  of 
them  have  been  registered.  It  is  possible  this  is  not  true,  but 
Judge  Douglas  knows  it  is  asserted  to  be  true  in  letters,  news- 
papers and  public  speeches,  and  borne  by  every  mail,  and 
blown  by  every  breeze  to  the  eyes  and  ears  of  the  world.  He 
knows  it  is  boldly  declared,  that  the  people  of  many  whole 
counties,  and  many  whole  neighborhoods  in  others,  are  left 
unregistered ;  yet,  he  does  not  venture  to  contradict  the  decla- 
ration, or  to  point  out  how  they  can  vote  without  being  regis- 
tered;  but  he  just  slips  along,  not  seeming  to  know  there  is 
any  such  question  of  fact,  and  complacently  declares,  "  There 
is  every  reason  to  hope  and  believe  that  the  law  will  be  fairly 
and  impartially  executed,  so  as  to  insure  to  every  bona  fide 
inhabitant  the  free  and  quiet  exercise  of  the  elective  franchise." 

I  readily  agree  that  if  all  had  a  chance  to  vote,  they  ought 
to  have  voted.  If,  on  the  contrary,  as  they  allege,  and  Judge 
Douglas  ventures  not  particularly  to  contradict,  few  only  of  the 
free  State  men  had  a  chance  to  vote,  they  were  perfectly  right 
in  staying  from  the  polls  in  a  body. 

By  the  way,  since  the  Judge  spoke,  the  Kansas  election  has 
come  off.  The  Judge  expressed  his  confidence  that  all  the 
Democrats  in  Kansas  would  do  their  duty — including  "free 
State  Democrats  "  of  course.  The  returns  received  here,  as 
yet,  are  very  incomplete ;  but,  so  far  as  they  go,  they  indicate 
that  only  about  one-sixth  of  the  registered  voters,  have  really 
voted ;  and  this  too,  when  not  more,  perhaps,  than  one-half  of 
the  rightful  voters  have  been  registered,  thus  showing  the 
thing  to  have  been  altogether  the  most  exquisite  farce  ever 
enacted.  I  am  watching  with  considerable  interest,  to  ascer- 
tain what  figure  "the  free  State  Democrats"  cut  in  the  con- 
cern. Of  course  they  voted — all  Democrats  do  their  duty — 


LIFE   OP   ABRAHAM   LINCOLN.  135 

and  of  course  they  did  not  vote  for  slave  State  candidates. 
We  soon  shall  know  how  many  delegates  they  elected,  how 
many  candidates  they  had  pledged  to  a  free  State,  and  how 
many  votes  were  cast  for  them. 

Allow  me  to  barely  whisper  my  suspicion,  that  there  were 
no  such  things  in  Kansas  as  "  free  State  Democrats  " — that 
they  were  altogether  mythical,  good  onlj  to  figure  in  newspa- 
pers and  speeches  in  the  free  States.  If  there  should  prove 
to  be  one  real,  living  free  State  Democrat  in  Kansas,  I  suggest 
that  it  might  be  well  to  catch  him,  and  stuff  and  preserve  his 
skin,  as  an  interesting  specimen  of  that  soon  to  be  extinct 
variety  of  the  genus  Democrat. 

And  now,  as  to  the  Dred  Scott  decision.  That  decision 
declares  two  propositions — first,  that  a  negro  can  not  sue  in 
the  United  States  Courts ;  and  secondly,  that  Congress  can  not 
prohibit  slavery  in  the  Territories.  It  was  made  by  a  divided 
court — dividing  differently  on  the  different  points.  Judge 
Douglas  does  not  discuss  the  merits  of  the  decision,  and  in  that 
respect,  I  shall  follow  his  example,  believing  I  could  no  more 
improve  upon  McLean  and  Curtis,  than  he  could  on  Taney. 

He  denounces  all  who  question  the  correctness  of  that  decis- 
ion, as  offering  violent  resistance  to  it.  But  who  resists  it? 
Who  has,  in  spite  of  the  decision,  declared  Dred  Scott  free,  and 
resisted  the  authority  of  his  master  over  him  ? 

Judicial  decisions  have  two  uses — first,  to  absolutely  deter- 
mine the  case  decided ;  and  secondly,  to  indicate  to  the  public 
how  other  similar  cases  will  be  decided  when  they  arise.  For 
the  latter  use,  they  are  called  "  precedents  "  and  "  authorities." 

We  believe  as  much  as  Judge  Douglas  (perhaps  more)  in 
obedience  to,  and  respect  for  the  judicial  department  of  Govern- 
ment. We  think  its  decisions  on  Constitutional  questions, 
when  fully  settled,  should  control,  not  only  the  particular  cases 
decided,  but  the  general  policy  of  the  country,  subject  to  be 
disturbed  only  by  amendments  of  the  Constitution,  as  provided 
in  that  instrument  itself.  More  than  this  would  be  revolution. 
But  we  think  the  Dred  Scott  decision  is  erroneous.  We  know 
the  court  that  made  it,  has  often  overruled  its  own  decisions, 
and  we  shall  do  what  we  can  to  have  it  overrule  this.  W» 
offer  no  resistance  to  it. 

Judicial  decisions  are  of  greater  or  less  authority  as  prece- 
dents, according  to  circumstances.  That  Ihis  should  be  so, 
accords  both  with  common  sense,  and  the  customary  under- 
standing of  the  legal  profession. 

If  this  important  decision  had  been  made  by  the  unanimous 
concurrence  of  the  judges,  and  without  any  apparent  partisan 
bias,  and  in  accordance  with  legal  public  expectation,  and  with 


X 

136  LIFE   OP  ABRAHAM   LINCOLN. 

the  steady  practice  of  the  departments,  throughout  our  his- 
tory, and  had  been  in  no  part  based  on  assumed  historical 
facts  which  are  not  really  true ;  or,  if  wanting  in  some  of  these, 
it  had  been  before  the  court  more  than  once,  and  had  there 
been  affirmed  and  re-affirmed  through  a  course  of  years,  it 
then  might  be,  perhaps  would  be,  factious,  nay,  even  revolu- 
tionary, not  to  acquiesce  in  it  as  a  precedent. 

But  when,  as  is  true,  we  find  it  wanting  in  all  these  claims 
to  the  public  confidence,  it  is  not  resistance,  it  is  not  factious, 
it  is  not  even  disrespectful,  to  treat  it  as  not  having  yet  quite 
established  a  settled  doctrine  for  the  country.  But  Judge 
Douglas  considers  this  view  awful.  Hear  him : 

"  The  courts  are  the  tribunals  prescribed  by  the  Constitu- 
tion and  created  by  the  authority  of  the  people  to  determine, 
expound  and  enforce  the  law.  Hence,  whoever  resists  the 
final  decision  of  the  highest  judicial  tribunal,  aims  a  deadly 
blow  to  our  whole  Republican  system  of  government — a  blow 
which,  if  successful,  would  place  all  our  rights  and  liberties  at 
the  mercy  of  passion,  anarchy  and  violence.  I  repeat,  there- 
fore, that  if  resistance  to  the  decisions  of  the  Supreme  Court 
of  the  United  States,  in  a  matter  like  the  points  decided  in 
the  Dred  Scott  case,  clearly  within  their  jurisdiction  as 
defined  by  the  Constitution,  shall  be  forced  upon  the  country 
as  a  political  issue,  it  will  become  a  distinct  and  naked  issue 
between  the  friends  and  enemies  of  the  Constitution  —  the 
friends  and  the  enemies  of  the  supremacy  of  the  laws." 

Why,  this  same  Supreme  Court  once  decided  a  national 
bank  to  be  Constitutional ;  but  General  Jackson,  as  President 
of  the  United  States,  disregarded  the  decision,  and  vetoed  a 
bill  for  a  re-charter,  partly  on  Constitutional  ground,  declar- 
ing that  each  public  functionary  must  support  the  Constitu- 
tion, "as  he  understands  It."  But  hear  the  General's  own 
words.  Here  they  are,  taken  from  his  veto  message : 

"It  is  maintained  by  the  advocates  of  the  bank,  that  its 
Constitutionality,  in  all  its  features,  ought  to  be  considered  as 
settled  by  precedent,  and  by  the  decision  of  the  Supreme 
Court.  To  this  conclusion  I  can  not  assent.  Mere  precedent 
is  a  dangerous  source  of  authority,  and  should  not  be 
regarded  as  deciding  questions  of  Constitutional  power,  except 
where  the  acquiescence  of  the  people  and  the  States  can  be 
considered  as  well  settled.  So  far  from  this  being  the  case 
on  this  subject,  an  argument  against  the  bank  might  be  based 
on  precedent.  One  Congress,  in  1791,  decided  in  favor  of  a 
bank  ;  another,  in  1811,  decided  against  it.  One  Congress, 
in  1815,  decided  against  a  bank  ;  another,  in  1816,  decided  in 
its  favor.  Prior  to  the  present  Congress,  therefore,  the  prece- 


LIFE   OF   ABRAHAM    LINCOLN.  1£7 

dents  drawn  from  that  source  were  equal.  If  we  resort  to  the 
States,  the  expressions  of  legislative,  judicial  and  executive 
opinions  against  the  bank  have  been  probably  to  those  in  its 
favor  as  four  to  one.  There  is  nothing  in  precedent,  there- 
fore, which,  if  its  authority  were  admitted,  ought  to  weigh  in 
favor  of  the  act  before  me." 

I  drop  the  quotations  merely  to  remark,  that  all  there  ever 
was,  in  the  way  of  precedent  up  to  the  Dred  Scott  decision, 
on  the  points  therein  decided,  had  been  against  that  decision. 
But  hear  General  Jackson  further  : 

"If  the  opinion  of  the  Supreme  Court  covered  the  whole 
ground  of  this  act,  it  ought  not  to  control  the  co-ordinate 
authorities  of  this  Government.  The  Congress,  the  Executive 
and  the  Court,  must  each  for  itself  be  guided  by  its  own  opin- 
ion of  the  Constitution.  Each  public  officer,  who  takes  an 
oath  to  support  the  Constitution,  swears  that  he  will  support 
it  as  he  understands  it,  and  not  as  it  is  understood  by  others." 

Again  and  again  have  I  heard  Judge  Douglas  denounce 
that  bank  decision,  and  applaud  General  Jackson  for  disre- 
garding it.  It  would  be  interesting  for  him  to  look  over  his 
recent  speech,  and  see  how  exactly  his  fierce  philippics  against 
us  for  resisting  Supreme  Court  decisions,  fall  upon  his  own 
head.  It  will  call  to  mind  a  long  and  fierce  political  war  in 
this  country,  upon  an  issue  which,  in  his  own  language,  and, 
of  course,  in  his  own  changeless  estimation,  was  "a  distinct 
issue  between  the  friends  and  the  enemies  of  the  Constitu- 
tion," and  in  which  war  he  fought  in  the  ranks  of  the  ene- 
mies of  the  Constitution. 

I  have  said,  in  substance,  that  the  Dred  Scott  decision  was, 
in  part,  based  on  assumed  historical  facts  which  were  not 
really  true,  and  I  ought  not  to  leave  the  subject  without  giv- 
ing some  reasons  for  saying  this ;  I,  therefore,  give  an 
instance  or  two,  which  I  think  fully  sustain  me.  Chief  Jus- 
tice Taney,  in  delivering  the  opinion  of  the  majority  of  the 
Court,  insists  at  great  length,  that  negroes  were  no  part  of  the 
people  who  made,  or  for  whom  was  made,  the  Declaration  of 
Independence,  or  the  Constitution  of  the  United  States. 

On  the  contrary,  Judge  Curtis,  in  his  dissenting  opinion, 
shows  that  in  five  of  the  then  thirteen  States,  to  wit :  New 
Hampshire,  Massachusetts,  New  York,  New  Jersey  and  North 
Carolina,  free  negoes  were  voters,  and,  in  proportion  to  their 
numbers,  had  the  same  part  in  making  the  Constitution  that 
the  white  people  had^  He  shows  this  with  so  much  particu- 
larity as  to  leave  no  doubt  of  its  truth ;  and  as  a  sort  of  con- 
clusion on  that  point,  holds  the  following  language  : 

"  The  Constitution  was  ordained  and  established  by  the 
12 


138  LIFE   OP   ABRAHAM   LINCOLN. 

people  of  the  United  States,  through  the  action,  in  each  State, 
of  those  persons  who  were  qualified  by  its  laws  to  act  thereon 
in  behalf  of  themselves  and  all  other  citizens  of  the  State. 
In  some  of  the  States,  as  we  have  seen,  colored  persons  were 
among  those  qualified  by  law  to  act  on  the  subject.  These 
colored  persons  were  not  only  included  in  the  body  of  'the 
people  of  the  United  States,'  by  whom  the  Constitution  was 
ordained  and  established ;  but  in  at  least  five  of  the  States 
they  had  the  power  to  act,  and,  doubtless,  did  act,  by  their 
suffrages,  upon  the  question  of  its  adoption." 

Again,  Chief  Justice  Taney  says :  "  It  is  difficult,  at  this 
day  to  realize  the  state  of  public  opinion  in  relation  to  that 
unfortunate  race,  which  prevailed  in  the  civilized  and  enlight- 
ened portions  of  the  world  at  the  time  of  the  Declaration  of 
Independence,  and  when  the  Constitution  of  the  United  States 
was  framed  and  adopted."  And  again,  after  quoting  from  the 
Declaration,  he  says  :  "  The  general  words  above  quoted  would 
seem  to  include  the  whole  human  family,  and  if  they  were 
used  in  a  similar  instrument  at  this  day,  would  be  so  under- 
stood." 

In  these  the  Chief  Justice  does  not  directly  assert,  but 
plainly  assumes,  as  a  fact,  that  the  public  estimate  of  the 
black  man  is  more  favorable  now  than  it  was  in  the  days  of 
the  Revolution.  This  assumption  is  a  mistake.  In  some  tri- 
fling particulars,  the  condition  of  that  race  has  been  amelior- 
ated ;  but,  as  a  whole,  in  this  country,  the  change  between 
then  and  now  is  decidedly  the  other  way ;  and  their  ultimate 
destiny  has  never  appeared  so  hopeless  as  in  the  last  three  or 
four  years.  In  two  of  the  five  States  —  New  Jersey  and 
North  Carolina — that  then  gave  the  free  negro  the  right  of 
voting,  the  right  has  since  been  taken  away;  and  in  the  third 
— New  York — it  has  been  greatly  abridged  ;  while  it  has  not 
been  extended,  so  far  as  I  know,  to  a  single  additional  State, 
though  the  number  of  the  States  has  more  than  doubled.  In 
those  days,  as  I  understand,  masters  could,  at  their  own  pleas- 
ure, emancipate  their  slaves  ;  but  since  then  such  legal 
restraints  have  been  made  upon  emancipation  as  to  amount 
almost  to  prohibition.  In  those  days  "Legislatures  held  the 
unquestioned  power  to  abolish  slavery  in  their  respective 
States ;  but  now  it  is  becoming  quite  fashionable  for  State 
Constitutions  to  withhold  that  power  from  the  Legislatures. 
In  those  days,  by  common  consent,  the  spread  of  the  black 
man's  bondage  to  the  new  countries  was  prohibited  ;  but  now, 
Congress  decides  that  it  will  not  continue  the  prohibition  — 
and  the  Supreme  Court  decides  that  it  could  not  if  it  would. 
In  those  days  our  Declaration  of  Independence  was  held 


LIFE  OF  ABRAHAM    LINCOLN.  139 

sacred  by  all,  and  thought  to  include  all ;  but  now,  to  aid  in 
making  the  bondage  of  the  negro  universal  and  eternal,  it  is 
assailed,  sneered  at,  construed,  hawked  at,  and  torn,  till,  if  its 
framers  could  rise  from  their  graves,  they  could  not  at  all 
recognize  it.  All  the  powers  of  earth  seem  rapidly  combining 
against  him.  Mammon  is  after  him ;  ambition  follows,  phi- 
losophy follows,  and  the  theology  of  the  day  is  fast  joining 
the  cry.  They  have  him  in  his  prison  -  house ;  they  have 
searched  his  person,  and  left  no  prying  instrument  with  him 
One  after  another  they  have  closed  the  heavy  iron  doors  upon 
him  ;  and  now  they  have  him,  as  it  were,  bolted  in  with  a  lock 
of  a  hundred  keys,  which  can  never  be  unlocked  without  the 
concurrence  of  every  key ;  the  keys  in  the  hands  of  a  hun- 
dred different  men,  and  they  scattered  to  a  hundred  different 
and  distant  places ;  and  they  stand  musing  as  to  what  inven- 
tion, in  all  the  dominions  of  mind  and  matter,  can  be  pro- 
duced to  make  the  impossibility  of  his  escape  more  complete 
than  it  is. 

It  is  grossly  incorrect  to  say  or  assume,  that  the  public  esti- 
mate of  the  negro  is  more  favorable  now  than  it  was  at  the 
origin  of  the  Government. 

Three  years  and  a  half  ago  Judge  Douglas  brought  forward 
his  famous  Nebraska  bill.  The  country  was  at  once  in  a 
blaze.  He  scorned  all  opposition,  and  carried  it  through  Con- 
gress. '  Since  then  he  has  seen  himself  superseded  in  a  Presi- 
dential nomination,  by  one  indorsing  the  general  doctrine  of 
his  measure,  but  at  the  same  time  standing  clear  of  the  odium 
of  its  untimely  agitation,  and  its  gross  breach  of  national  faith  ; 
and  he  has  seen  that  successful  rival  Constitutionally  elected, 
not  by  the  strength  of  friends,  but  by  the  division  of  his  adver- 
saries, being  in  a  popular  minority  of  nearly  four  hundred 
thousand  votes.  He  has  seen  his  chief  aids  in  his  own  State, 
Shields  and  Richardson,  politically  speaking,  successively 
tried,  convicted,  and  executed,  for  an  offense  not  their  own, 
but  his.  And  now  he  sees  his  own  case,  standing  next  on  the 
docket  for  trial. 

There  is  a  natural  disgust,  in  the  minds  of  nearly  all  white 
people,  to  the  idea  of  an  indiscriminate  amalgamation  of  the 
white  and  black  races  ;  and  Judge  Douglas  evidently  is  basing 
his  chief  hope  upon  the  chances  of  his  being  able  to  appro- 
priate the  benefit  of  this  disgust  to  himself.  If  he  can,  by 
much  drumming  and  repeating,  fasten  the  odium  of  that  idea 
upon  his  adversaries,  he  thinks  he  can  struggle  through  the 
storm.  He,  therefore,  clings  to  this  hope,  as  a  drowning  man 
to  the  last  plank.  He  makes  an  occasion  for  lugging  it  in 
from  the  opposition  to  the  Dred  Scott  decision.  He  finds  the 


140  LIFE   OP   ABRAHAM    LINCOLN. 

Republicans  insisting  that  the  Declaration  of  Independence 
includes  ALL  men,  black  as  Well  as  white,  and  forthwith  he 
boldly  denies  that  it  includes  negroes  at  all,  and  proceeds  to 
argue  gravely  that  all  who  contend  it  does,  do  so  only  because 
they  want  to  vote,  eat  and  sleep,  and  marry  with  negroes  !  He 
will  have  it  that  they  can  not  be  consistent  else.  Now,  I  pro- 
•test  against  the  counterfeit  logic  which  concludes  that,  because 
I  do  not  want  a  black  woman  for  a  slave  I  must  necessarily 
want  her  for  a  wife.  I  need  not  have  her  for  either.  I  can 
just  leave  bar  alone.  In  some  respects  she  certainly  is  not 
my  equal ;  but  in  her  natural  right  to  eat  the  bread  she  earns 
with  her  own  hands,  without  asking  leave  of  any  one  else,  she 
is  my  equal,  and  the  equal  of  all  others. 

Chief  Justice  Taney,  in  his  opinion  in  the  Dred  Scott  case, 
admits  that  the  language  of  the  Declaration  is  broad  enough 
to  include  the  whole  human  family ;  but  he  and  Judge  Doug- 
las argue  that  the  authors  of  that  instrument  did  not  intend 
to  include  negroes,  by  the  fact  that  they  did  not  at  once  actu- 
a^ly  place  them  on  an  equality  with  the  whites.  Now,  this 
grave  argument  comes  to  just  nothing  at  all,  by  the  other  fact, 
that  they  did  not  at  once,  or  ever  afterward,  actually  place  all 
white  people  on  an  equality  with  one  another.  And  this  is 
the  staple  argument  of  both  the  Chief  Justice  and  the  Sena- 
tor for  doing  this  obvious  violence  to  the  plain,  unmistakable 
language  of  the  Declaration. 

I  think  the  authors  of  that  notable  instrument  intended  to 
include  all  men,  but  they  did  not  intend  to  declare  all  men 
equal  in  all  respects.  They  did  not  mean  to  say  all  were  equal 
in  color,  size,  intellect,  moral  developments,  or  social  capacity. 
They  defined  with  tolerable  distinctness  in  what  respects  they 
did  consider  ail  men  created  equal — equal  with  "  certain 
inalienable  rights,  among  which  are  life,  liberty,  and  the  pur- 
suit of  happiness."  This  they  said,  and  this  meant.  They 
did  not  mean  to  assert  the  obvious  untruth,  that  all  were  then 
actually  enjoying  that  equality,  nor  yet,  that  they  were  about 
to  confer  it  immediately  upon  them.  In  fact,  they  had  no 
power  to  confer  such  a  boon.  They  meant  simply  to  declare 
the  right,  so  that  the  enforcement  of  it  might  follow  as  fast  as 
circumstances  should  permit. 

Mr.  Lincoln,  in  conclusion,  pointed  out  in  a  clear  and  forci- 
ble manner  the  real  distinction  between  hia  own  views  and 
those  of  Mr.  Douglas,  on  this  question,  as  he  has  done  in  other 
speeches. 


LIFE   OP   ABRAHAM   LINCOLN.  141 


CHAPTER  XI. 

THE   LINCOLN-DOUGLAS   CAMPAIGN  OF  1858. 

The  Lecompton  Struggle. — The  Policy  of  Douglas  Changed. — He 
Breaks  with  the  Administration  and  Loses  Caste  at  the  South. — 
Republican  Sympathies. — Douglas  Falters,  but  Opposes  the  English 
Bill.— Passage  of  that  Measure.— Democratic  State  Convention  of 
Illinois. — Douglas  Indorsed,  and  Efforts  for  His  Re-election  Com- 
menced.— The  Democratic  Bolt. — Meeting  of  the  Republican  State 
Convention  in  June. — Mr.  Lincoln  named  as  the  First  and  Only 
Choice  of  the  Republicans  for  Senator. — His  Great  Speech  Before 
the  Convention  at  Springfield. — Douglas  and  Lincoln  at  Chicago. — 
Speeches  at  Bloomington  and  Springfield. — Unfairness  of  the  Appor- 
tionment Pointed  Out  by  Mr.  Lincoln. — He  Analyzes  the  Douglas 
Programme. — Seven  Joint  Debates. — Douglas  Produces  a  Bogus 
Platform,  and  Propounds  Interrogatories. — "Unfriendly,  Legisla- 
tion."— Lincoln  Fully  Defines  His  Position  on  the  Slavery  Question. — 
Result  of  the  Canvass. — The  People  for  Lincoln ;  the  Apportionment 
for  Douglas. — Public  opinion. 

The  Lecompton  Convention  did  its  work  according  to  the 
programme  laid  down  at  Washington.  It  adopted  the  Con- 
stitution desired,  and  probably  devised,  at  the  national  capital, 
with  the  design  of  forcing  slavery  upon  an  unwilling  people. 
One  of  the  chief  instruments  in  the  execution  of  this  work, 
so  far  as  it  could  be  consummated  at  Lecompton,  was  John 
Calhoun,  an  Illinois  politician.  The  act  under  which  that 
Convention  was  assembled,  had  received  an  unreserved  and 
complete  indorsement  from  Douglas,  as  :<  fair  and  just."  He 
was  emphatically  committed  in  advance  by  his  Springfield 
speech  to  the  action  of  that  Convention,  which  exercised  no 
powers  not  distinctly  conferred  upon  it  by  the  act  thus 
indorsed,  or  not  in  strict  accordance  with  what  was  contem- 
plated from  the  first  by  its  framers.  Yet  late  in  the  autumn 
of  1857,  a  rumor  began  to  be  circulated  that  Douglas  was  hes- 
itating about  sustaining  the  Lecompton  Constitution.  Know 


142  LIFE  OF  ABRAHAM   LINCOLN. 

ing  his  previous  attitude,  people  were  generally  incredulous  in 
regard  to  this  report.  After  a  time,  however,  some  of  the 
leading  Democratic  papers  of  Illinois  began  to  hreak  ground 
against  the  Lecompton  scheme,  and  when  Congress  assembled, 
in  December,  there  were  serious  doubts  as  to  whether  Douglas 
did  not  intend  to  break  with  the  Administration  on  this  sub- 
ject. Suspense  on  this  point  was  soon  relieved.  Immedi- 
ately after  the  annual  message  of  Mr.  Buchanan  was  read  in 
the  Senate,  Douglas  took  occasion  to  announce  his  disagree- 
ment with  the  President  on  the  Kansas  question,  and  this 
notice  was  followed  up  by  an  elaborate  speech  the  next  day, 
in  which  he  boldly  talked  against  "  forcing  this  Constitution 
down  the  throats  of  the  people  of  Kansas  in  opposition  to 
their  wishes  and  in  violation  of  our  pledges.".  He  ignored  all 
his  recent  attempts  to  charge  the  responsibility  upon  the  non- 
voters  if  the  Constitution  did  not  suit  them.  He  seemed  to 
forget  his  declaration  that  the  act  calling  the  Lecompton  Con- 
vention was  "just  and  fair  in  all  its  objects  and  provisions." 
He  now  denied  the  right  of  the  minority  represented  at 
Lecompton,  in  accordance  with  the  well-understood  "  objects 
and  provisions  "  of  that  act,  "  to  defraud  the  majority  of  that 
people  out  of  their  elective  franchise." 

In  brief,  whatever  his  motives  —  and  these  may  be  left  to 
himself — he  had  completely  changed  his  attitude  during  the 
last  few  months,  and  now  co-operated  with  the  Republicans 
in  opposing  the  Lecompton  policy  to  which  the  President  and 
the  Democratic  party  had  become  definitely  committed  before 
the  world.  These  two  facts,  however,  are  undeniable.  The 
re-election  of  Douglas  as  Senator  was  to  depend  on  the  com- 
ing election  in  Illinois,  and  without  some  definite  change  of 
course,  from  that  he  had  indicated  at  Springfield  in  June  pre- 
vious, he  would  be  compelled  to  yield  his  place  to  Abraham 
Lincoln,  as  the  associate  of  Lyman  Trumbull. 

It  is  not  necessary  here  to  follow  the  history  of  the  despe- 
rate struggle  which  this  change  cost  him  during  the  long 
session  of  Congress.  He  carried  with  him  but  two  Democratic 
Senators  <mt  of  nearly  forty,  and  only  a  little  larger  fraction 
of  the  Democratic  members  of  the  House.  He  was  generally 


LIFE   OP  ABRAHAM    LINCOLN.  143 

denounced  at  the  South  as  a  traitor,  and  this  fact,  added  to 
the  energy  with  which  he  carried  on  his  warfare  with  the 
Administration  against  so  many  odds,  gained  him  not  a  little 
sympathy  in  many  Republican  quarters.  This,  however,  for 
the  most  part,  his  subsequent  course  alienated.  It  is  believed 
that  but  for  the  firm  stand  taken  by  the  lamented  Broderick, 
in  opposition  to  the  course  intended,  Douglas  would  have 
made  his  peace  with  the  Administration  by  voting  for  the 
shabby  compromise  known  as  the  English  Bill.  That  meas- 
ure, in  spite  of  his  final  influence  against  it,  passed  both 
Houses  on  the  4th  of  May. 

Previous  to  that  date,  the  Democratic  State  Convention,  of 
Illinois,  had  met  at  Springfield  (April  21st),  nominated  a 
State  ticket  and  indorsed  Douglas  and  his  Anti-Lecompton 
associates  from  that  State.  The  issue  was  thus  fairly  joined 
early  in  the  season  ;  and  all  the  influence  of  the  Administra- 
tion was  brought  to  bear  in  getting  up  a  counter  Democratic 
organization  sustaining  the  Lecompton  policy.  However 
premising  for  a  time,  this  undertaking  was  not  brilliantly 
successful.  The  friends  of  Douglas  had  taken  time  by  the 
forelock,  and  made  the  most  of  their  advantage  in  having  the 
regular  organization,  with  a  State  ticket  early  in  the  field. 
They  spared  no  labor  from  this  time  forward  in  preparing  for 
the  re-election  of  Douglas.  Without  expecting  the  election 
of  their  candidates  on  the  State  ticket,  they  hoped,  through  an 
unequal  apportionment  strongly  favoring  their  side,  and  from 
the  large  number  of  Democratic  Senators  holding  over,  to  be 
able,  at  least,  to  get  the  control  of  the  Senate,  and  to  prevent 
the  choice  of  a  Republican  successor  to  Douglas,  if  they  could 
not  accomplish  their  full  purpose. 

On  the  16th  of  June — the  day  on  which  the  session  of  Con- 
gress closed — the  Republicans  held  their  State  Convention  at 
Springfield.  Richard  Yates  was  the  temporary,  and  Gustavus 
Koerner  the  permanent  President.  Nearly  every  one  of  the 
hundred  counties  of  Illinois  was  duly  represented,  the  delegates 
numbering  over  five  hundred.  Candidates  were  nominated  for 
State  Treasurei  and  for  Superintendent  of  Public  Instruction, 
and  a  Platform  was  adopted  essentially  the  same  as  that  put 


144  LIFE  OP  ABRAHAM   LINCOLN. 

forth  two  years  previously  at  Bloomington,  as  already  quoted. 
A  resolution  approving  the  course  of  Lyman  Trumbull  as  Sen- 
ator was  carried  without  opposition.  The  following  resolution 
was  then  introduced,  which,  according  to  the  official  report, 
"was  greeted  with  shouts  of  applause,  and  unanimously 
adopted :" 

Resolved,  That  Abraham  Lincoln  is  the  first  and  only  choice 
of  the  Republicans  of  Illinois  for  the  United  States  Senate, 
as  the  successor  of  Stephen  A.  Douglas. 

Mr.  Lincoln  had  not  been  present  during  the  Convention, 
and  when  called  on  to  speak,  at  the  adjourned  evening  session, 
he  had  no  knowledge  that  such  a  resolution  had  been  offered. 
So  far  was  it  from  being  true  that  his  speech  on  that  occasion, 
as  subsequently  stated  by  Douglas,  was  made  on  accepting  a 
nomination  for  the  Senatorship,  that,  of  course,  he  did  not  allude 
to  that  subject.  The  speech,  too,  though  carefully  prepared, 
as  Mr.  Lincoln  afterward  admitted,  was  never  known  to  any 
one  else  than  himself  until  its  delivery,  notwithstanding  the 
insinuation  of  Douglas  that  it  was  a  subject  of  special  con- 
sultation among  the  Republican  leaders.  It  was  the  result 
of  a  broad  and  profound  survey  of  the  slavery  question,  from 
the  point  of  view  then  reached  in  the  progress  of  parties. 
It  laid  down  certain  propositions  as  philosophical  truths,  derived 
from  a  close  observation  of  events.  Its  opening  paragraph 
has  already  become  one  of  the  most  celebrated  passages  in 
the  political  literature  of  the  country.  However  it  may  be 
perverted,  there  is  no  portion  of  this  speech  which  can  be 
successfully  assailed,  when  taken  in  its  true  meaning.  There 
is  a  moral  sublimity  in  the  rugged  honesty  and  directness  with 
which  the  grand  issues,  in  this  whole  slavery  agitation  are  pre- 
sented. The  two  forces  of  slavery  and  free  labor  in  our  civil 
and  social  system,  inevitably  antagonistic,  so  long  as  tlipy  come, 
into  collision  in  our  national  politics,  have  each  their  peculiar 
tendency,  the  one  to  make  slavery,  and  the  other  to  make  free 
labor  universal.  Until  slavery  is  again  reduced  to  its  true  local 
and  sectional  character,  from  which  Douglas,  Buchanan,  and 
other  agitators  have  conspired  to  raise  it  into  national  pre- 
dominance, the  antagonism  will  not  cease.  What  Douglas  hac 


LIFE   OF   ABRAHAM    LINCOLN.  145 

always  superficially  slurred  over — pretending  an  indifference, 
such  as  no  earnest  or  sound  statesman  can  really  feel,  whether 
"slavery  is  voted  up  or  voted  down" — Lincoln  treats  with 
true  philosophic  insight,  and  in  the  light  of  earnest  convic- 
tions. This  famous  speech  is  in  entire  harmony  with  the 
views  of  the  earlier  statesmen,  even  of  the  South.  If  any 
man  at  first  reads  this  great  effort  doubtingly,  or  with  an 
inclination  toward  dissent — as  most  assuredly  few  really 
earnest,  thinking  men  can — let  him  carefully  look  onward  and 
see  how  it  endures  the  test  of  a  severe  campaign,  and  how  its 
chief  positions  are  maintained  against  all  the  assaults  of  a 
wily  foe,  who  is  himself  really  on  trial,  solemnly  indicted  by 
that  speech,  yet  vainly  imagines  that  he  is  placing  Mr.  Lin- 
coln on  the  defensive. 

"  The  hall,  and  lobbies,  and  galleries  were  even  more 
densely  crowded  and  packed  than  at  any  time  during  the 
day,"  says  the  official  report,  as  the  Convention  reassembled 
in  the  evening  to  hear  Mr.  Lincoln.  "  As  he  approached  the 
speaker's  stand,  he  was  greeted  with  shouts,  and  hurrahs,  and 
prolonged  cheering." 

MB.  LINCOLN'S  FIBST  SPEECH  IN  THE  SENATOBIAL  CANVASS. 
(At  the  Republican  State  Convention,  June  16,  1858.) 

Mr.  Lincoln  said — 

GENTLEMEN  OF  THE  CONVENTION  : — If  we  could  first  know 
where  we  are,  and  whither  we  are  tending,  we  could  then  bet- 
ter judge  what  to  do,  and  how  to  do  it.  We  are  now  far  on  into 
the  fifth  year,  since  a  policy  was  initiated,  with  the  avowed 
object,  and  confident  promise,  of  putting  an  end  to  slavery 
agitation.  Under  the  operation  of  that  policy,  that  agitation 
has  not  only  not  ceased,  but  has  constantly  augmented.  In 
my  opinion,  it  will  not  cease,  until  a  crisis  shall  have  been 
reached,  and  passed.  "  A  house  divided  against  itself  can  not 
stand."  I  believe  this  Government  can  not  endure,  perma- 
nently, half  slave  and  half  free.  I  do  not  expect  the  Union 
to  be  dissolved — I  do  not  expect  the  house  to  fall — but  I  do 
expect  it  will  cease  to  be  divided.  It  will  become  all  one 
thing,  or  all  the  other.  Either  the  opponents  of  slavery  will 
arrest  the  further  spread  of  it,  and  place  it  where  the  public 
mind  shall  rest  in  the  belief  that  it  is  in  course  of  ultimate 
extinction,  or  its  advocates  will  push  it  forward,  till  it  shall 
13 


146  LIFE   OP   ABRAHAM    LIXCOLN. 

become  alike  lawful  in  all  the  States,  old  as  well  as  new — 
North  as  well  as  South. 

Have  we  no  tendency  to  the  latter  condition?  Let  any 
one  who  doubts,  carefully  contemplate  that  now  almost  com- 
plete legal  combination — piece  of  machinery,  so  to  speak — 
compounded  of  the  Nebraska  doctrine,  and  the  Dred  Scott 
decision.  Let  him  consider  not  only  what  work  the  machinery 
is  adapted  to  do,  and  how  well  adapted,  but  also  let  him  study 
the  history  of  its  construction,  and  trace,  if  he  can,  or  rather 
fail,  if  he  can,  to  trace  the  evidences  of  design,  and  concert 
of  action,  among  its  chief  master-workers  from  the  beginning. 

But,  so  far,  Congress  only  had  acted ;  and  an  indorsement 
by  the  people,  real  or  apparent,  was  indispensable,  to  save  the 
point  already  gained,  and  give  chance  for  more.  The  new 
year  of  1854  found  slavery  excluded  from  more  than  half  the 
States  by  State  Constitutions,  and  from  most  of  the  national 
territory  by  Congressional  prohibition.  Four  days  later  com- 
menced the  struggle,  which  ended  in  repealing  that  Congress- 
ional prohibition.  This  opened  all  the  national  territory  to 
slavery,  and  was  the  first  point  gained. 
*  This  necessity  had  not  been  overlooked,  but  had  been  pro- 
vided for,  as  well  as  might  be,  in  the  notable  argument  of 
"  squatter  sovereignty"  otherwise  called  "  sacred  right  of  self- 
government"  which  latter  phrase,  though  expressive  of  the 
only  rightful  basis  of  any  government,  was  so  perverted  in  this 
attempted  use  of  it  as  to  amount  to  just  this  :  that  if  any 
one  man  choose  to  enslave  another,  no  third  man  shall  be 
allowed  to  object.  That  argument  was  incorporated  into  the 
Nebraska  Bill  itself,  in  the  language  which  follows :  "  It 
being  the  true  intent  and  meaning  of  this  act  not  to  legislate 
slavery  into  any  Territory  or  State,  nor  exclude  it  therefrom  ; 
but  to  leave  the  people  thereof  perfectly  free  to  form  and  reg- 
ulate their  domestic  institutions  in  their  own  way,  subject  only 
to  the  Constitution  of  the  United  States." 

Then  opened  the  roar  of  loose  declamation  in  favor  of 
"  squatter  sovereignty,"  and-  "  sacred  right  of  self-govern- 
ment." 

"  But,"  said  opposition  members,  "  let  us  be  more  specific — 
let  us  amend  the  bill  so  as  to  expressly  declare  that  the  people 
of  the  territory  may  exclude  slavery."  "  Not  we,"  said  the 
friends  of  the  measure  ;  and  down  they  voted  the  amendment. 

While  the  Nebraska  Bill  was  passing  through  Congress,  a 
law  case,  involving  the  question  of  a  negro's  freedom,  by 
reason  of  his  owner  having  voluntarily  taken  him  first  into  a 
free  State  and  then  a  territory  covered  by  the  Congressional 
prohibition,  and  held  him  as  a  slave — for  a  long  time  in  each — 


LIFE   OF   ABRAHAM   LINCOLN.  147 

was  passing  through  the  U.  S.  Circuit  Court  for  the  District  of 
Missouri ;  and  both  the  Nebraska  Bill  and  la\v  suit  were 
brought  to  a  decision  in  the  same  month  of  May,  1854.  The 
negro's  name  was  "  Dred  Scott,"  which  name  now  designates 
the  decision  finally  made  in  the  case. 

Before  the  then  next  Presidential  election  case,  the  law  came 
to,  and  was  argued  in  the  Supreme  Court  of  the  United  States  ; 
but  the  decision  of  it  was  deferred  until  after  the  election. 
Still,  before  the  election,  Senator  Trumbull,  on  the  floor  of  the 
Senate^  requests  the  leading  advocate  of  the  Nebraska  Bill  to 
state  his  opinion  whether  a  people  of  a  territory  can  constitu- 
tionally exclude  slavery  from  their  limits;  and  the  latter 
answers,  "  That  is  a  question  for  the  Supreme  Court." 

The  election  came.  Mr.  Buchanan  was  elected,  and  the 
indorsement,  such  as  it  was,  secured.  That  was  the  second 
point  gained.  The  indorsement,  however,  fell  short  of  a  clear 
popular  majority  by  nearly  four  hundred  thousand  votes,  and 
so,  perhaps,  was  not  overwhelmingly  reliable  and  satisfactory. 
The  outgoing  President  in  his  last  annual  message,  as  impress- 
ively as  possible  echoed  back  upon  the  people  the  weight  and 
authority  of  the  indorsement. 

The  Supreme  Court  met  again  ;  did  not  announce  their 
decision,  but  ordered  a  re-argument.  The  Presidential  inau- 
guration came,  and  still  no  decision  of  the  court ;  but  the 
incoming  President,  in  his  Inaugural  Address,  fervently 
exhorted  the  people  to  abide  by  the  forthcoming  decision, 
whatever  it  might  be.  Then,  in  a  few  days,  came  the  decision. 

This  was  the  third  point  gained. 

The  reputed  author  of  the  Nebraska  Bill  finds  an  early 
occasion  to  make  a  speech  at  this  capitol  indorsing  the  Dred 
Scott  decision,  and  vehemently  denouncing  all  opposition  to 
it.  The  new  President,  too,  seizes  the  early  occasion  of  the 
Silliman  letter  to  indorse  and  strongly  construe  that  decision, 
and  to  express  his  astonishment  that  any  different  view  had 
ever  been  entertained.  At  length  a  squabble  springs  up 
between  the  President  and  the  author  of  the  Nebraska  Bill 
on  the  mere  question  of  fact,  whether  the  Lecompton  Consti- 
tution was  or  was  not,  in  any  just  sense,  made  by  the  people 
of  Kansas ;  and,  in  that  squabble,  the  latter  declares  that  all 
he  wants  is  a  fair  vote  for  the  people,  and  that  he  cares  not 
whether  slavery  be  voted  down  or  voted  up.  I  do  not  under- 
stand his  declaration  that  he  cares  not  whether  slavery  be 
voted  down  or  voted  up,  to  be  intended  by  him  other  than  as 
an  apt  definition  of  the  policy  he  would  impress  upon  the 
public  mind — the  principle  for  which  he  declares  he  has 
Buffered  much,  and  is  ready  to  suffer  to  the  end. 


148  LIFE  OF    vBRAHAM   LINCOLN. 

And  well  may  he  cling  to  that  principle.  If  he  has  any 
parental  feeling,  well  may  he  cling  to  it.  That  principle  is 
the  only  shred  left  of  his  original  Nebraska  doctrine.  Under 
the  Dred  Scott  decision,  "  squatter  sovereignty  "  squatted  out 
of  existence,  tumbled  down  like  temporary  scaffolding — like 
the  mold  at  the  foundry,  served  through  one  blast,  and  fell 
back  into  loose  sand — helped  to  carry  an  election,  and  then 
was  kicked  to  the  winds.  His  late  joint  struggle  with  the  Re- 
publicans, against  the  Lecompton  Constitution,  involves  noth- 
ing of  the  original  Nebraska  doctrine.  That  struggle  was 
made  on  a  point — the  right  of  a  people  to  make  their  own  Con- 
stitution— upon  which  he  and  the  Republicans  have  never 
differed. 

The  several  points  of  the  Dred  Scott  decision,  in  connection 
with  Senator  Douglas's  "care  not"  policy,  constitute  the  piece 
of  machinery  in  its  present  state  of  advancement.  The  work- 
ing points  of  that  machinery  are  : 

First,  That  no  negro  slave,  imported  as  such  from  Africa, 
and  no  descendant  of  such,  can  ever  be  a  citizen  of  any  State, 
in  the  sense  of  that  term  as  used  in  the  Constitution  of  the 
United  States. 

This  point  is  made  in  order  to  deprive  the  negro,  in  every 
possible  event,  of  the  benefit  of  this  provision  of  the  United 
States  Constitution,  which  declares  that — "  The  citizens  of  each 
State  shall  be  entitled  to  all  the  privileges  and  immunities  of 
citizens  in  the  several  States." 

Secondly,  that  "  subject  to  the  Constitution  of  the  United 
States,"  neither  Congress  nor  a  Territorial  Legislature  can 
exclude  slavery  from  any  United  States  Territory. 

This  point  is  made  in  order  that  individual  men  may  fill  up 
the  Territories  with  slaves,  without  danger  of  losing  them  as 
property,  and  thus  to  enhance  the  chances  of  permanency  to 
the  institution  through  all  the  future. 

Thirdly,  that  whether  the  holding  a  negro  in  actual  slavery 
in  a  free  State  makes  him  free,  as  against  the  holder,  the  Uni- 
ted States  courts  will  not  decide,  but  will  leave  to  be  decided 
by  the  courts  of  any  slave  State  the  negro  may  be  forced  into 
by  the  master. 

This  point  is  made,  not  to  be  pressed  immediately  ;  but,  if 
acquiesced  in  for  a  while,  and  apparently  indorsed  by  the 
people  at  an  election,  then,  to  sustain  the  logical  conclusion 
that  what  Dred  Scott's  master  might  lawfully  do  with  Dred 
Scott,  in  the  free  State  of  Illinois,  every  other  master  may 
lawfully  do  with  any  other  one,  or  one  thousand  slaves,  in 
Illinois,  or  in  any  other  free  State. 

Auxiliary  to  all   this,  and  working  hand  in  hand  with  it, 


LIFE  OP  ABRAHAM  LINCOJ.X.  149 

the  Nebraska  doctrine,  or  what  is  left  of  it,  is  to  educate  and 
mold  public  opinion,  at  least  Northern  public  opinion,  not  to 
care  whether  slavery  is  voted  down  or  voted  up. 

This  shows  exactly  where  we  now  are,  and  partially  also, 
whither  we  are  tending. 

It  will  throw  additional  light  on  the  latter,  to  go  back,  and 
run  the  mind  over  the  string  of  historical  facts  already  stated. 
Several  things  will  now  appear  less  dark  and  mysterious  than 
they  did  when  they  were  transpiring.  The  people  were  to  be 
left  "  perfectly  free,"  "  subject  only  to  the  Constitution." 
What  the  Constitution  had  to  do  with  it,  outsiders  could  not 
then  see.  Plainly  enough  now,  it  was  an  exactly  fitted  niche 
for  the  Dred  Scott  decision  afterward  to  come  in,  and  declare 
that  perfect  freedom  of  the  people,  to  be  just  no  freedom  at  all. 

Why  was  the  amendment,  expressly  declaring  the  right  of 
the  people  to  exclude  slavery,  voted  down  ?  Plainly  enough 
now,  the  adoption  of  it  would  have  spoiled  the  niche  for  the 
Dred  Scott  decision. 

Why  was  the  court  decision  held  up  ?  Why  even  a  Sena- 
tor's individual  opinion  withheld  till  after  the  Presidential 
election  ?  Plainly  enough  now ;  the  speaking  out  then  would 
have  damaged  the  "perfectly  free  "  argument  upon  which  the 
election  was  to  be  carried. 

Why  the  outgoing  President's  felicitation  on  the  indorse- 
ment ?  Why  the  delay  of  a  re-argument  ?  Why  the  incom- 
ing President's  advance  exhortation  in  favor  of  the  decision  ? 
These  things  look  like  the  cautious  patting  and  petting  of  a 
spirited  horse,  preparatory  to  mounting  him,  when  it  is  dreaded 
that  he  may  give  the  rider  a  fall.  And  why  the  hasty  after- 
indorsements  of  the  decision,  by  the  President  and  others  ? 

We  can  not  absolutely  know  that  all  these  exact  adaptations 
are  the  result  of  pre-concert.  But  when  we  see  a  lot  of  framed 
timbers,  different  portions  of  which  we  know  have  been  gotten 
out,  at  different  times  and  places,  and  by  different  workmen — 
Stephen,  Franklin,  Roger  and  James,  for  instance — and  when 
we  see  these  timbers  joined  together,  and  see  they  exactly  make 
the  frame  of  a  house  or  a  mill,  all  the  tenons  and  mortices 
exactly  fitting,  and  all  the  lengths  and  proportions  of  the  dif- 
ferent pieces  exactly  adapted  to  their  respective  places,  and  not 
a  piece  too  many  or  too  few — not  omitting  even  scaffolding — 
or,  if  a  single  piece  be  lacking,  we  can  see  the  place  in  the 
frame  exactly  fitted  and  prepared  to  yet  bring  such  piece  in— 
in  such  a  case,  we  find  it  impossible  not  to  believe  that  Stephen 
and  Franklin  and  Roger  and  James  all  understood  one  another 
from  the  beginning,  and  all  worked  upon  a  common  plan  or 
draft  drawn  up  before  the  first  blow  was  struck. 


150  LIFE  OP  ABRAHAM   LINCOLN. 

It  should  not  be  overlooked  that,  by  the  Nebraska  Bill,  the 
people  of  a  State  as  well  as  Territory,  were  to  be  left  "  per- 
fectly free"  "subject  only  to  tlie  Constitution."  Why  mention 
a  State  ?  They  were  legislating  for  Territories,  and  not  for  or 
about  States.  Certainly  the  people  of  a  State  are  and  ought 
to  be  subject  to  the  Constitution  of  the  United  States ;  but 
why  is  mention  of  this  lugged  into  this  merely  territorial  law? 
Why  are  the  people  of  a  Territory  and  the  people  of  a  State 
therein  lumped  together,  and  their  relation  to  the  Constitution 
therein  treated  as  being  precisely  the  same  ? 

While  the  opinion  of  the  court,  by  Chief  Justice  Taney,  in 
the  Dred  Scott  case,  and  the  separate  opinions  of  all  the  con- 
curring judges,  expressly  declare  that  the  Constitution  of  the 
United  States  neither  permits  Congress  nor  a  Territorial  Legis- 
lature to  exclude  slavery  from  any  United  States  Territory, 
they  all  omit  to  declare  whether  or  not  the  same  Constitution 
permits  a  State,  or  the  people  of  a  State  to  exclude  it.  Possi- 
bly, this  was  a  mere  omission ;  but  who  can  be  quite  sure,  if 
McLean  or  Curtis  had  sought  to  get  into  the  opinion  a  declar- 
ation of  unlimited  power  in  the  people  of  a  State  to  exclude 
slavery  from  their  limits,  just  as  Chase  and  Mace  sought  to  get 
such  declaration,  in  behalf  of  the  people  of  a  Territory,  into  the 
Nebraska  Bill — I  ask,  who  can  be  quite  sure  that  it  would  not 
have  been  voted  down,  in  the  one  case,  as  it  had  been  in  the  other. 

The  nearest  approach  to  the  point  of  declaring  the  power  of 
a  State  over  slavery,  is  made  by  Judge  Nelson.  He  approaches 
it  more  than  once,  using  the  precise  idea,  and  almost  the  lan- 
guage, too,  of  the  Nebraska  Act.  On  one  occasion  his  exact 
language  is,  "  except  in  cases  where  the  power  is  restrained 
by  the  Constitution  of  the  United  States,  the  law  of  the  State 
is  supreme  over  the  subject  of  slavery  within  its  jurisdiction." 

In  what  cases  the  power  of  the  State  is  so  restrained  by  the 
United  States  Constitution,  is  left  an  open  question,  precisely 
as  the  same  question,  as  to  the  restraint  on  the  power  of  the 
Territories  was  left  open  in  the  Nebraska  Act.  Put  that  and 
that  together,  and  we  have  another  nice  little  niche,  which  we 
may,  ere  long,  see  filled  with  another  Supreme  Court  decision, 
declaring  that  the  Constitution  of  the  United  States  does  not 
permit  a  State  to  exclude  slavery  from  its  limits.  And  this 
may  especially  be  expected  if  the  doctrine  of  "  care  not  whether 
slavery  be  voted  down  or  voted  up,"  shall  gain  upon  the 
public  mind  sufficiently  to  give  promise  that  such  a  decision 
can  be  maintained  when  made. 

Such  a  decision  is  all  that  slavery  now  lacks  of  being  alike 
lawful  in  all  the  States.  Welcome  or  unwelcome,  such  decis- 
ion is  probably  coming,  and  will  soon  be  upon  us,  unless  tho 


LIFE  OP   ABRAHAM   LINCOLN.  151 

power  of  the  present  political  dynasty  shall  be  met  and  over- 
thrown. We  shall  lie  down  pleasantly  dreaming  that  the 
people  of  Missouri  are  on  the  verge  of  making  their  State  free ; 
and  we  shall  awake  to  the  reality,  instead,  that  the  Supreme 
Court  has  made  Illinois  a  slave  State. 

To  meet  and  overthrow  the  power  of  that  dynasty,  is  the 
work  now  before  all  those  who  would  prevent  that  consumma- 
tion. That  is  what  we  have  to  do.  But  how  can  we  best  do  it? 

There  are  those  who  denounce  us  openly  to  their  own  friends, 
and  yet  whisper  softly,  that  Senator  Douglas  is  the  aptest 
instrument  there  is,  with  which  to  effect  that  object.  They 
do  not  tell  us,  nor  has  he  told  us,  that  he  wishes  any  such 
object  to  be  effected.  They  wish  us  to  infer  all,  from  the  facts  that 
he  now  has  a  little  quarrel  with  the  present  head  of  the  dynasty; 
and  that  he  has  regularly  voted  with  us,  ou  a  single  point, 
upon  which  he  and  we  have  never  differed. 

They  remind  us  that  he  is  a  very  great  man,  and  that  the 
largest  of  us  are  very  small  ones.  Let  this  be  granted.  But 
"a  living  dog  is  better  than  a  dead  lion."  Judge  Douglas,  if 
not  a  dead  lion  for  this  work,  is  at  least  a  caged  and  toothless 
one.-  How  can  he  oppose  the  advances  of  slavery  ?  He  don't 
care  anything  about  it.  His  avowed  mission  is  impressing  the 
"  public  heart "  to  care  nothing  about  it. 

A  leading  Douglas  Democratic  newspaper  thinks  Douglas's 
superior  talent  will  be  needed  to  resist  the  revival  of  the  Afri- 
can slave-trade.  Does  Douglas  believe  an  effort  to  revive  that 
trade  is  approaching?  He  has  not  said  so.  Does  he  really 
think  so?  But  if  it  is,  how  can  he  resist  it?  -For  years  he 
has  labored  to  prove  it  a  sacred  right  of  white  men  to  take 
negro  slaves  into  the  new  Territories.  Can  he  possibly  show 
that  it  is  less  a  sacred  right  to  buy  them  where  they  can  be 
bought  cheapest?  And,  unquestionably  they  can  be  bought 
cheaper  in  Africa  than  in  Virginia. 

He  has  done  all  in  his  power  to  reduce  the  whole  question  of 
slavery  to  one  of  a  mere  right  of  property ;  and  as  such,  how 
can  he  oppose  the  foreign  slave-trade — how  can  he  refuse  that 
trade  in  that  "  property  "  shall  be  "  perfectly  free  " — unless  he 
does  it  as  a  protection  to  the  home  production?  And  as  the 
home  producers  will  probably  not  ask  the  protection,  he  will 
be  wholly  without  a  ground  of  opposition. 

Senator  Douglas  holds,  we  know,  that  a  man  may  rightfully 
be  wiser  to-day  than  he  was  yesterday — that  he  may  rightfully 
change  when  he  finds  himself  wrong.  But,  can  we  for  that 
reason  run  ahead  and  infer  that  he  will  make  any  particular 
change,  of  which  he  himself  has  given  no  intimation?  Can 
we  safely  base  our  action  upon  any  such  vague  inferences? 


152  LIFE   OP   ABRAHAM    LINCOLN. 

Now,  as  ever,  I  wish  not  to  misrepresent  Judge  Douglas's 
position,  question  his  motives,  or  do  aught  that  can  be  person- 
ally offensive  to  him.  Whenever,  if  ever,  he  and  we  can  come 
together  on  principle,  so  that  our  great  cause  may  have  assis- 
tance from  his  great  ability,  I  hope  to  have  interposed  no 
adventitious  obstacle. 

But  clearly,  he  is  not  now  with  us — he  does  not  pretend  to 
be — he  does  not  promise  ever  to  be.  Our  cause,  then,  must  be 
intrusted  to,  and  conducted  by  its  own  undoubted  friends — 
those  whose  hands  are  free,  whose  hearts  are  in  the  work — who 
do  care  for  the  result. 

Two  years  ago  the  Republicans  of  the  nation  mustered  over 
thirteen  hundred  thousand  strong.  We  did  this  under  the 
single  impulse  of  resistance  to  a  common  danger,  with  every 
external  circumstance  against  us.  Of  strange,  discordant,  and 
even  hostile  elements,  we  gathered  from  the  four  winds,  and 
formed  and  fought  the  battle  through,  under  the  constant  hot 
fire  of  a  disciplined,  proud  and  pampered  enemy.  Did  we 
brave  all  then  to  falter  now  ? — noic — when  that  same  enemy  is 
wavering,  dissevered  and  belligerent? 

The  result  is  not  doubtful.  We  shall  not  fail — if  we  stand 
firm,  we  shall  not  fail.  Wise  counsels  may  accelerate  or  mistakes 
delay  it,  but,  sooner  or  later,  the  victory  is  sure  to  come. 

Mr.  Douglas,  having  lingered  for  more  than  three  weeks  on 
his  way  homeward,  preparing  for  the  struggle  before  him, 
arrived  in  Chicago  on  the  9th  of  July,  amid  the  most  showy 
demonstrations  of  his  friends.  He  made  a  long  speech  on 
the  occasion,  which  Mr.  Lincoln  was  present  to  hear.  Doug- 
las claimed  great  credit  as  having  defeated  the  President's 
Lecomptbn  policy,  and  imperiously  returned  thanks  to  the 
Republicans  for  "coming  up  manfully  and  sustaining"  him 
and  his  little  band  in  opposition  to  the  Administration  - — a 
course,  certainly,  for  which  the  Republican  party  deserved  no 
special  thanks,  as  it  required  of  them  no  sacrifice  of  either 
consistency  or  partizan  fellowship.  Subsequently  he  charged 
an  alliance  between  the  Republicans  and  the  Administration 
party  for  his  defeat.  He  took  care  again  to  avow  an  utter 
indifference  as  to  whether  Kansas  should  be  slave  soil  or  free 
soil,  only  asking  that  the  popular  majority  should  prevail. 
At  length  he  came  to  the  great  opening  speech  of  Mr.  Lin- 
coln, which  had  been  carefully  pondered  during  the  last  three 
weeks. 


LIFE   OP  ABRAHAM    LINCOLN.  153 

"I  have  observed,"  he  said  with  condescending  assurance, 
VI  have  observed  from  the  public  prints,  that  but  a  few  days 
ago  the  Republican  party  of  the  State  of  Illinois  assembled 
in  convention  at  Springfield,  and  not  only  laid  down  their 
platform,  but  nominated  a  candidate  for  the  United  States 
Senate  as  my  successor.  I  take  great  pleasure  in  saying  that 
I  have  known,  personally  and  intimately,  for  about  a  quarter 
of  a  century,  the  worthy  gentleman  who  has  been  nominated 
for  my  place ;  and  I  will  say  that  I  regard  him  as  a  kind, 
amiable  and  intelligent  gentleman,  a  good  citizen,  and  an  hon- 
orable opponent ;  and  whatever  issue  I  may  have  with  him 
will  be  of  principle,  and  not  involving  personalities."  He 
then  proceeded  to  specify  his  two  chief  points  of  attack  on 
Mr.  Lincoln,  after  citing  a  portion  of  the  first  paragraph  of 
his  Springfield  speech.  Mr.  Douglas  endeavored  thus  to  put 
his  opponent  in  a  false  position,  by  selecting  sentences  out  of 
their  connection,  and  imputing  to  them  a  perverted  meaning. 
His  first  point  he  thus  states : 

In  other  words,  Mr.  Lincoln  asserts  as  a  fundamental  prin- 
ciple of  this  Government,  that  there  must  be  uniformity  in 
the  local  laws  and  domestic  institutions  of  each  and  all  the 
States  of  the  Union,  and  he  therefore  invites  all  the  non- 
slaveholding  States  to  band  together,  organize  as  one  body, 
and  make  war  upon  slavery  in  Kentucky,  upon  slavery  in 
Virginia,  upon  slavery  in  the  Carolinas,  upon  slavery  in  all 
of  the  slaveholding  States  in  this  Union,  and  to  persevere  in 
that  war  until  it  shall  be  exterminated.  He  then  notifies  the 
slaveholding  States  to  stand  together  as  a  unit  and  make  an 
aggressive  war  upon  the  free  States  of  this  Union,  with  a  view 
of  establishing  slavery  in  them  all ;  of  forcing  it  upon  Illi- 
nois, of  forcing  it  upon  New  York,  upon  New  England,  and 
upon  every  other  free  State,  and  that  they  shall  keep  up  the 
warfare  until  it  has  been  formally  established  in  them  all.  In 
other  words,  Mr.  Lincoln  advocates  boldly  and  clearly  a  war 
of  sections,  a  war  of  the  North  against  the  South,  of  the  free 
States  against  the  slave  States  —  a  war  of  extermination  —  to 
be  continued  relentlessly  until  the  one  or  the  other  should  be 
subdued,  and  all  the  States  shall  either  become  free  or  become 
slave. 

His  other  point  was  made  in  these  words : 

The    other   proposition   discussed    by  Mr.  Lincoln   in    his 


154  LIFE   OP   ABRAHAM    LINCOLN. 

speech,  consists  in  a  crusade  against  the  Supreme  Court  of  the 
United  States  on  account  of  the  Dred  Scott  decision.  On  this 
question,  also,  I  desire  to  say  to  you,  unequivocally,  that  I 
take  direct  and  distinct  issue  with  him.  I  have  no  warfare  to 
make  on  the  Supreme  Court  of  the  United  States,  either  on 
account  of  that  or  any  other  decision  which  they  have  pro- 
nounced from  that  bench.  The  Constitution  of  the  United 
States  has  provided  that  the  powers  of  Government  (and  the 
Constitution  of  each  State  has  the  same  provision)  shall  be 
divided  into  three  departments  —  executive,  legislative,  and 
judicial.  The  right  and  the  province  of  expounding  the 
Constitution,  and  constructing  the  law,  is  vested  in  the  judi- 
ciary established  by  the  Constitution.  As  a  lawyer,  I  feel  at 
liberty  to  appear  before  the  court  and  controvert  any  principle 
of  law  while  the  question  is  pending  before  the  tribunal ;  but 
when  the  decision  is  made,  my  private  opinion,  your  opinion, 
all  other  opinions,  must  yield  to  the  majesty  of  that  authori- 
tative adjudication. 

Later  in  the  same  speech,  Mr.  Douglas  said  on  this  head : 

,On  the  other  point,  Mr.  Lincoln  goes  for  a  warfare  upon 
the  Supreme  Court  of  the  United  States,  because  of  their 
decision  in  the  Dred  Scott  case.  I  yield  obedience  to  the 
decisions  of  that  court — to  the  final  determination  of  the 
highest  judicial  tribunal  known  to  our  Constitution.  He 
objects  to  the  Dred  Scott  decision  because  it  does  not  put  the 
negro  in  the  possession  of  the  rights  of  citizenship  on  an 
equality  with  the  white  man.  I  am  opposed  to  negro  equal- 
ity. I  repeat  that  this  nation  is  a  white  people — a  people 
composed  of  European  descendants  —  a  people  that  have 
established  this  Government  for  themselves  and  their  pos- 
terity, and  I  am  in  favor  of  preserving  not  only  the  purity  of 
the  blood,  but  the  purity  of  the  Government,  from  any  mix- 
ture or  amalgamation  with  inferior  races.  I  have  seen  the 
effects  of  this  mixture  of  superior  and  inferior  races  —  this 
amalgamation  of  white  men  and  Indians  and  negroes ;  we 
have  seen  it  in  Mexico,  in  Central  America,  in  South  America, 
and  in  all  the  Spanish-American  States,  and"  its  result  has 
been  degeneration,  demoralization,  and  degradation  below  the 
capacity  for  self-government. 

How  completely,  yet  artfully,  the  positions  of  Mr.  Lincoln 
were  misrepresented  in  these  extracts,  will  partly  appear  from 
reading  his  speech  made  at  Springfield  on  the  26th  of  June, 
1857.  These  perversions  were  completely  disposed  of  in  Mr. 
Lincoln's  reply,  at  Chicago,  on  the  following  evening,  July 


LIFE   OP   ABRAHAM   LINCOLN.  155 

10th.  An  intense  eagerness  to  hear  his  answer  drew  together 
a  great  crowd,  and  the  reception  of  Mr.  Lincoln,  on  his 
appearance,  was  most  enthusiastic,  the  applause  continuing  for 
several  minutes. 

MB.  LINCOLN'S  REPLY  TO  DOUGLAS. 
(At  Chicago,  on  the  evening  of  July  10,  1858.) 

Mr.  Lincoln  said : 

MY  FELLOW-CITIZENS  :  On  yesterday  evening,  upon  the 
occasion  of  the  reception  given  to  Senator  Douglas,  I  was 
furnished  with  a  seat  very  convenient  for  hearing  him,  and 
was  otherwise  very  courteously  treated  by  him  and  his  friends, 
for  which  I  thank  him  and  them.  During  the  course  of  his 
remarks  my  name  was  mentioned  in  such  a  way  as,  I  suppose, 
renders  it  at  least  not  improper  that  I  should  make  some  sort 
of  reply  to  him.  I  shall  not  attempt  to  follow  him  in  the 
precise  order  in  which  he  addressed  the  assembled  multitude 
upon  that  occasion,  though  I  shall  perhaps  do  so  in  the  main. 

THE   ALLEGED   ALLIANCE. 

There  was  one  question  to  which  he  asked  the  attention  of 
the  crowd,  which  I  deem  of  somewhat  less  importance — at 
least  of  propriety  for  me  to  dwell  upon — than  the  others, 
which  he  brought  in  near  the  close  of  his  speech,  and  which 
I  think  it  would  not  be  entirely  proper  for  me  to  omit  attend- 
ing to,  and  yet  if  I  were  not  to  give  some  attention  to  it  now, 
I  should  probably  forget  it  altogether.  While  I  am  upon 
this  subject,  allow  me  to  say  that  I  do  not  intend  to  indulge 
in  that  inconvenient  mode  sometimes  adopted  in  public 
speaking,  of  reading  from  documents ;  but  I  shall  depart 
from  that  rule  so  far  as  to  read  a  little  scrap  from  his  speech, 
which  notices  this  first  topic  of  which  I  shall  speak — that  is, 
provided  I  can  find  it  in  the  paper.  [Examines  the  morning's 
paper.] 

"  I  have  made  up  my  mind  to  appeal  to  the  people  against 
the  combination  that  has  been  made  against  me  !  the  Repub- 
lican leaders  having  formed  an  alliance,  an  unholy  and 
unnatural  alliance,  with  a  portion  of  unscrupulous  federal 
office-holders.  I  intend  to  fight  that  allied  army  wherever  I 
meet  them.  I  know  they  deny  the  alliance,  but  yet  these  men 
who  are  trying  to  divide  the  Democratic  party  for  the  purpose 
of  electing  a  Republican  Senator  in  my  place,  are  just  as 
much  the  agents  and  tools  of  the  supporters  of  Mr.  Lincoln. 
Hence  I  shall  deal  with  this  allied  army  just  as  the  Russians 
dealt  with  the  allies  at  Scbastopol — that  is,  the  Russians  did 


156  LITE   OP   ABRAHAM    LINCOLN. 

not  stop  to  inquire,  when  they  fired  a  broadside,  whether  it 
hit  an  Englishman,  a  Frenchman,  or  a  Turk.  Nor  will  I  stop 
to  inquire,  nor  shall  I  hesitate,  whether  my  blows  shall  hit 
these  Republican  leaders  or  their  allies,  who  are  holding  the 
federal  offices  and  yet  acting  in  concert  with  them." 

Well,  now,  gentlemen,  is  not  that  very  alarming  ?  Just  to 
think  of  it!  right  at  the  outset  of  his  canvass,  I,  a  poor,  kind, 
amiable,  intelligent  gentleman,  I  am  to  be  slain  in  this  way. 
Why,  my  friends,  the  Judge,  is  not  only,  as  it  turns  out,  not 
a  dead  lion,  nor  even  a  living  one — he  is  the  rugged  Russian 
Bear  !  [Laughter  and  applause.] 

But  if  they  will  have  it — for  he  says  that  we  deny  it — that 
there  is  any  such  alliance,  as  he  says  there  is — and  I  don't 
propose  hanging  very  much  upon  this  question  of  veracity — 
but  if  he  will  have  it  that  there  is  such  an  alliance — that  the 
Administration  men  and  we  are  allied,  and  we  stand  in  the 
attitude  of  English,  French  and  Turk,  he  occupying  the 
position  of  the  Russian,  in  that  case,  I  beg  that  he  will  indulge 
•us  while  we  barely  suggest  to  him  that  these  allies  took 
Sebastopol.  [Great  applause.] 

Gentlemen,  only  a  few  more  words  as  to  this  alliance.  For 
my  part,  I  have  to  say,  that  whether  there  be  such  an  alliance, 
depends,  so  far  as  I  know,  upon  what  may  be  a  right  defini- 
tion of  the  term  alliance.  If  for  the  Republican  party  to  see 
the  other  great  party  to  which  they  are  opposed  divided 
among  themselves,  and  not  try  to  stop  the  division  and  rather 
be  glad  of  it — if  that  is  an  alliance,  I  confess  I  am  in ;  but  if 
it  is  meant  to  be  said  that  the  Republicans  had  formed  an 
alliance  going  beyond  that,  by  which  there  is  contribution  of 
money  or  sacrifice  of  principle  on  the  one  side  or  the  other, 
so  far  as  the  Republican  party  is  concerned,  if  there  be  any 
such  thing,  I  protest  that  I  neither  know  any  thing  of  it,  nor 
do  I  believe  it.  I  will,  however,  say — as  I  think  this  branch 
of  the  argument  is  lugged  in — I  would  before  I  leave  it,  state, 
for  the  benefit  of  those  concerned,  that  one  of  those  same 
Buchanan  men  did  once  tell  me  of  an  argument  that  he  made 
for  his  opposition  to  Judge  Douglas.  He  said  that  a  friend 
of  our  Senator  Douglas  had  been  talking  to  him,  and  had 
among  other  things  said  to  him  :  "  Why,  you  don't  want  to 
beat  Douglas?"  "  Yes,"  said  he,  "I  do  want  to  beat  him, 
and  I  will  tell  you  why.  I  believe  his  original  Nebraska  Bill 
was  right  in  the  abstract,  but  it  was  wrong  in  the  time  that  it 
was  brought  forward.  It  was  wrong  in  the  application  to  a 
Territory  in  regard  to  which  the  question  had  been  settled ;  it 
was  brought  forward  at  a  time  when  nobody  asked  him  ;  it  was 
tendered  to  the  South  when  the  South  had  not  asked  for  it, 


LIFE   OF   ABRAHAM    LINCOLN.  157 

but  when  they  could  not  well  refuse  it;  and  for  this  same 
reason  he  forced  that  question  upon  our  party ;  it  has  sunk 
the  best  men  all  over  the  nation,  everywhere ;  and  now  when 
our  President,  struggling  with  the  difficulties  of  this  man's 
getting  up,  has  reached  the  very  hardest  point  to  turn  in  the 
case,  he  deserts  him,  and  I  am  for  putting  him  where  he  will 
trouble  us  no  more." 

Now,  gentlemen,  that  is  not  my  argument — that  is  not  my 
argument  at  all.  I  have  only  been  stating  to  you  the  argu- 
ment of  a  Buchanan  man.  You  will  judge  if  there  is  any 
force  in  it. 

WHAT   IS  POPULAR   SOVEREIGNTY. 

Popular  sovereignty  !  everlasting  popular  sovereignty !  Let 
us  for  a  moment  inquire  into  this  vast  matter  of  popular 
sovereignty.  What  is  popular  sovereignty?  We  recollect 
that  in  an  early  period  in  the  history  of  this  struggle,  there  was 
another  name  for  the  same  thing — Squatter  Sovereignty.  It 
was  not  exactly  Popular  Sovereignty,  but  Squatter  Sover- 
eignty. What  do  those  terms  mean  ?  What  do  those  terms 
mean  when  used  now?  And  vast  credit  is  taken  by  our 
friend,  the  Judge,  in  regard  to  his  support  of  it,  when  he 
declares  the  last  years  of  his  life  have  been,  and  all  the  future 
years  of  his  life  shall  be,  devoted  to  this  matter  of  popular 
sovereignty.  What  is  it?  Why,  it  is  the  sovereignty  of  the 
people  !  What  was  Squatter  Sovereignty  ?  I  suppose  if  it 
had  any  significance  at  all  it  was  the  right  of  the  people  to 
govern  themselves,  to  be  sovereign  in  their  own  affairs  while 
they  were  squatted  down  in  a  country  not  their  own,  while 
they  had  squatted  on  a  Territory  that  did  not  belong  to  them, 
in  the  sense  that  a  State  belongs  to  the  people  who  inhabit 
it — when  it  belonged  to  the  nation — such  right  to  govern 
themselves  was  called  "  Squatter  Sovereignty." 

Now  I  wish  you  to  mark.  What  has  become  of  that  Squat- 
ter Sovereignty?  What  has  become  of  it?  Can  you  get  any 
body  to  tell  you  now  that  the  people  of  a  Territory  have  any 
authority  to  govern  themselves,  in  regard  to  this  mooted 
question  of  slavery,  before  they  form  a  State  Constitution  ? 
No  such  thing  at  all,  although  there  is  a  general  running 
fire,  and  although  there  has  been  a  hurrah  made  in  every  speech 
on  that  side,  assuming  that  policy  Lad  given  the  people  of  a 
Territory  the  right  to  govern  themselves  upon  this  question ; 
yet  the  point  is  dodged.  To-day  it  has  been  decided — no 
more  than  a  year  ago  it  was  decided  by  the  Supreme  Court  of 
the  United  States,  and  is  insisted  upon  to-day,  that  the  people 


158 


LIFE   OF   ABRAHAM   LINCOLN. 


of  a  Territory  have  no  right  to  exclude  slavery  from  a  Terri- 
tory, that  if  any  one  man  chooses  to  take  slaves  into  a 
Territory,  all  the  rest  of  the  people  have  no  right  to  keep 
them  out.  This  being  so,  and  this  decision  being  made  one 
of  the  points  that  the  Judge  approved,  and  one  in  the  approval 
of  which  he  says  he  means  to  keep  me  down — put  me  down  I 
should  not  say,  for  I  have  never  been  up.  He  says  he  is  in 
favor  of  it,  and  sticks  to  it,  and  expects  to  win  his  battle  on 
that  decision,  which  says  that  there  is  no  such  thing  as 
Squatter  Sovereignty ;  but  that  any  one  man  may  take  slaves 
into  a  Territory,  and  all  the  other  men  in  the  Territory  may 
be  opposed  to  it,  and  yet  by  reason  of  the  Constitution  they 
can  not  prohibit  it.  When  that  is  so,  how  much  is  left  of  this 
vast  matter  of  Squatter  Sovereignty  I  should  like  to  know  ? 
[A  voice — "  It  is  all  gone."] 

"When  we  get  back,  we  get  to  the  point  of  the  right  of  the 
people  to  make  a  Constitution.  Kansas  was  settled,  for 
example,  in  1854.  It  was  a  Territory  yet,  without  having 
formed  a  Constitution,  in  a  very  regular  way,  for  three  years. 
All  this  time  negro  slavery  could  be  taken  in  by  any  few 
individuals,  and  by  that  decision  of  the  Supreme  Court,  which 
the  Judge  approves,  all  the  rest  of  the  people  can  not  keep  it 
out;  but  when  they  come  to  make  a  Constitution  they  may 
say  they  will  not  have  slavery.  But  it  is  there  ;  they  are 
obliged  to  tolerate  it  some  way,  and  all  experience  shows  it 
will  be  so — for  they  will  not  take  negro  slaves  and"  abso- 
lutely deprive  the  owners  of  them.  All  experience  shows 
this  to  be  so.  All  that  space  of  time  that  runs  from  the 
beginning  of  the  settlement  of  the  Territory  until  there  is 
sufficiency  of  people  to  make  a  State  Constitution — all  that 
portion  of  time  popular  sovereignty  is  given  up.  The  seal  is 
absolutely  put  down  upon  it  by  the  Court  decision,  and  Judge 
Douglas  puts  his  on  the  top  of  that,  yet  he  is  appealing  to 
the  people  to  give  him  vast  credit  for  his  devotion  to  popular 
sovereignty.  [Applause.] 

Again,  when  we  get  to  the  question  of  the  right  of  the 
people  to  form  a  State  Constitution  as  they  please,  to  form  it 
with  slavery  or  without  slavery — if  that  is  any  thing  new,  I 
confess  I  don't  know  it.  Has  there  ever  been  a  time  when 
any  body  said  that  any  other  than  the  people  of  a  Territory 
itself  should  form  a  Constitution  ?  What  is  now  in  it  that 
Judge  Douglas  should  have  fought  several  years  of  his  life, 
and  pledge  himself  to  fight  all  the  remaining  years  of  his 
life  for?  Can  Judge  Douglas  find  any  body  on  earth  that 
said  that  any  body  else  should  form  a  Constitution  for  a 


LIFE   OF   ABRAHAM    LINCOLN.  159 

people  ?  [A  voice,  "  Yes."]  Well,  I  should  like  you  to  name 
him ;  I  should  like  to  know  who  he  was.  [Same  voice, 
"John  Calhoun."] 

Mr.  Lincoln — No,  Sir,  I  never  heard  of  even  John  Calhoun 
saying  such  a  thing.  He  insisted  on  the  same  principle  as 
Judge  Douglas ;  but  his  mode  of  applying  it  in  fact,  was 
wrong.  It  is  enough  for  my  purpose  to  ask  this  crowd,  when 
ever  a  Republican  said  anything  against  it  ?  They  never  said 
anything  against  it,  but  they  have  constantly  spoken  for  it ; 
and  whosoever  will  undertake  to  examine  the  platform,  and 
the  speeches  of  responsible  men  of  the  party,  and  of  irre- 
sponsible men,  too,  if  you  please,  will  be  unable  to  find  one 
word  from  anybody  in  the  Republican  ranks,  opposed  to  that 
Popular  Sovereignty  which  Judge  Douglas  thinks  that  he  has 
invented.  [Applause.]  I  suppose  that  Judge  Douglas  will 
claim  in  a  little  while,  that  he  is  the  inventor  of  the  idea  that 
the  people  should  govern  themselves ;  that  nobody  ever 
thought  of  such  a  thing  until  he  brought  it  forward.  We  do 
remember,  that  in  that  old  Declaration  of  Independence,  it  is 
said  that  "  We  hold  these  truths  to  be  self-evident,  that  all 
men  are  created  equal ;  that  they  are  endowed  by  their  Creator 
with  certain  inalienable  rights ;  that  among  these  are  life, 
liberty,  and  the  pursuit  of  happiness ;  that  to  secure  these 
rights,  governments  are  instituted  among  men,  deriving  their 
just  powers  from  the  consent  of  the  governed."  There  is  the 
origin  of  Popular  Sovereignty.  [Loud  applause.]  Who, 
then,  shall  come'in  at  this  day  and  claim  that  he  invented  it? 

[After  referring,  in  appropriate  terms,  to  the  credit  claimed 
by  Douglas  for  defeating  the  Lecompton  policy,  Mr.  Lincoln 
proceeds] : 

I  defy  you  to  show  a  printed  resolution  passed  in  a  DeTno- 
cratic  meeting — I  take  it  upon  myself  to  defy  any  man  to 
show  a  printed  resolution  of  a  Democratic  meeting,  large  or. 
small,  in  favor  of  Judge  Trumbull,  or  any  of  the  five  to  one 
Republicans  who  beat  that  bill.  Every  thing  must  be  for  the 
Democrats  !  They  did  every  thing,  and  the  five  to  the  one 
that  really  did  the  thing,  they  snub  over,  and  they  do  not 
seem  to  remember  that  they  have  an  existence  upon  the  face 
of  the  earth. 

LINCOLN   AND   DOUGLAS — THE   PERVERTED   ISSUES. 

Gentlemen,  I  fear  that  I  shall  become  tedious.  I  leave  this 
branch  of  the  subject  to  take  hold  of  another.  I  take  up  that 
part  of  Judge  Douglas's  speech  in  which  he  respectfully 
attended  to  me. 


160  LIFE   OF   ABRAHAM    LINCOLN. 

Judge  Douglas  made  two  points  upon  my  recent  speech  at 
Springfield.  He  says  they  are  to  be  the  issues  of  this  cam- 
paign. The  first  one  of  these  points  he  bases  upon  the  lan- 
guage in  a  speech  which  I  delivered  at  Springfield,  which  I 
believe  I  can  quote  correctly  from  memory.  I  said  there  that 
"  we  are  now  far  on  in  the  fifth  year  since  a  policy  was  instituted 
for  the  avowed  object,  and  with  the  confident  promise,  of  put- 
ting an  end  to  slavery  agitation  ;  under  the  operation  of  that  pol- 
icy, that  agitation  had  not  only  not  ceased,  but  had  constantly 
augmented.  I  believe  it  will  not  cease  until  a  crisis  shall 
have  been  reached  and  passed.  A  house  divided  against  itself 
can  not  stand.  I  believe  this  Government  can  not  endure  per- 
manently half  slave  and  half  free.  I  do  not  expect  the  Union 
to  be  dissolved  " — I  am  quoting  from  my  speech — "  I  do  not 
expect,  the  house  to  fall,  but  I  do  expect  it  will  cease  to  be 
divided.  It  will  come  all  one  thing  or  the  other.  Either  the 
opponents  of  slavery  will  arrest  the  spread  of  it,  and  place  it 
where  the  public  mind  shall  rest  in  the  belief  that  it  is  in  the 
course  of  ultimate  extinction,  or  its  advocates  will  push  it 
forward  until  it  shall  have  become  alike  lawful  in  all  the 
States,  North  as  well  as  South." 

In  this  paragraph  which  I  have  quoted  in  your  hearing,  and 
to  which  I  ask  the  attention  of  all,  Judge  Douglas  thinks  he 
discovers  great  political  heresy.  I  want  your  attention  par- 
ticularly to  what  he  has  inferred  from  it.  He  says  I  am  in 
favor  of  making  all  the  States  of  this  Union  uniform  in  all 
their  internal  regulations ;  that  in  all  their  domestic  concerns 
I  am  in  favor  of  making  them  entirely  uniform.  He  draws 
this  inference  from  the  language  I  have  quoted  to  you.  He 
says  that  I  am  in  favor  o^"  making  war  by  the  North  upon  the 
South  for  the  extinction  of  slavery  ;  that  I  am  also  in  favor  of 
inviting,  as  he  expresses  it,  the  South  to  a  war  upon  the  North, 
for  the  purpose  of  nationalizing  slavery.  Now,  it  is  singular 
enough,  if  you  will  carefully  read  that  passage  over,  that  I  did 
not  say  that  I  was  in  favor  of  any  thing  in  it.  I  only  said 
what  I  expected  would  take  place.  I  made  a  prediction  only — 
it  may  have  been  a  foolish  one  perhaps.  I  did  not  even  say 
that  I  desired  that  slavery  should  be  put  in  course  of  ultimate 
extinction.  I  do  say  so  now,  however,  so  there  need  be  no 
longer  any  difficulty  about  that.  It  may  be  written  down  in 
the  next  speech. 

Gentlemen,  Judge  Douglas  informed  you  that  this  speech  of 
mine  was  probably  carefully  prepared.  I  admit  that  it  was. 
I  am  not  master  of  language  ;  I  have  not  a  fine  education  ;  I 
am  not  capable  of  entering  into  a  disquisition  upon  dialectics, 
as  I  believe  you  call  it;  but  I  do  not  believe  tin  language  I 


LIFE   OF   ABRAHAM   LINCOLN.  161 

employed  bears  any  such  construction  as  Judge  Douglas  puts 
upon  it.  But  I  don't  care  about  a  quibble  in  regard  to  words. 
I  know  what  I  meant,  and  I  will  not  leave  this  crowd  in 
doubt,  if  I  can  explain  it  to  them,  what  I  really  meant  in  the 
use  of  that  paragraph. 

I  am  not,  in  the  first  place,  unaware  that  this  Government 
has  endured  eighty-two  years,  half  slave  and  half  free.  I 
know  that.  I  am  tolerably  well  acquainted  with  the  history 
of  the  country,  and  I  know  that  it  has  endured  eighty-two 
years,  half  slave  and  half  free.  I  believe — and  that  is  what  I 
meant  to  allude  to  there — I  believe  it  has  endured,  because 
during  all  that  time,  until  the  introduction  of  the  Nebraska 
bill,  the  public  mind  did  rest  all  the  time  in  the  belief  that 
slavery  was  in  course  of  ultimate  extinction.  That  was  what 
gave  us  the  rest  that  we  had  through  that  period  of  eighty-two 
years ;  at  least,  so  I  believe.  I  have  always  hated  slavery,  I 
think,  as  much  as  any  Abolitionist.  I  have  been  an  Old 
Line  Whig.  I  have  always  hated  it,  but  I  have  always  been 
quiet  about  it  until  this  new  era  of  the  introduction  of  the 
Nebraska  Bill  began.  I  always  believed  that  everybody  was 
against  it,  and  that  it  was  in  course  of  ultimate  extinction. 
[Pointing  to  Mr.  Browning,  who  stood  near  by  :]  Browning 
thought  so  ;  the  great  mass  of  the  nation  have  rested  in  the 
belief  that  slavery  was  in  course  of  ultimate  extinction. 
They  had  reason  so  to  believe. 

The  adoption  of  the  Constitution  and  its  attendant  history 
led  the  people  to  believe  so  ;  and  that  such  was  the  belief  of 
the  framers  of  the  Constitution  itself.  Why  did  those  old 
men,  about  the  time  of  the  adoption  of  the  Constitution, 
decree  that  slavery  should  not  go  into,  the  new  territory,  where 
it  had  not  already  gone  ?  Why  declare  that  within  twenty 
years  the  African  slave-trade,  by  which  slaves  are  supplied, 
might  be  cut  off  by  Congress  ?  Why  were  all-  these  acts  ?  I 
might  enumerate  more  of  such  acts — but  enough.  What  were 
they  but  a  clear  indication  that  the  framers  of  the  Constitution 
intended  and  expected  the  ultimate  extinction  of  that  institu- 
tion ?  [Cheers.]  And  now,  when  I  say,  as  I  said  in  this 
speech  that  Judge  Douglas  has  quoted  from,  when  I  say  that  I 
think  the  opponents  of  slavery  will  resist  the  further  spread  of 
it,  and  place  it  where  the  public  mind  shall  rest  with  the  belief 
that  it  is  in  course  of  ultimate  extinction,  I  only  mean  to  say, 
that  they  will  place  it  where  the  founders  of  this  Government 
originally  placed  it. 

I  have  said  a  hundred  times,  and  I  have  no  inclination  fo 
take  it  back,  that  I  believe  there  is  no  right,  and  ought  to  be 
ao  inclination  in  the  people  of  the  free  States  to  enter  into 
14 


162  LIFE   OP   ABRAHAM   LINCOLN. 

the  slave  States,  and  to  interfere  -with  the  question  of  slavery 
at  all.  I  have  said  that  always.  Judge  Douglas  has  heard 
me  say  it — if  not  quite  a  hundred  times,  at  least  as  good  as  a 
hundred  times ;  and  when  it  is  said  that  I  am  in  favor  of 
interfering  with  slavery  where  it  exists,  I  know  that  it  is 
unwarranted  by  anything  I  have  ever  intended,  and,  as  I 
believe,  by  anything  I  have  ever  said.  If,  by  any  means,  I 
have  ever  used  language  which  could  fairly  be  so  construed 
(as,  however,  I  believe  I  never  have),  I  now  correct  it. 

So  much,  then,  for  the  inference  that  Judge  Douglas  draws, 
that  I  am  in  favor  of  setting  the  sections  at  war  with  one 
another.  I  know  that  I  never  meant  any  such  thing,  and  .1 
believe  that  no  fair  mind  can  infer  any  such  thing  from  any- 
thing I  have  ever  said. 

Now  in  relation  to  his  inference  that  I  am  in  favor  of  a 
general  consolidation  of  all  the  local  institutions  of  the  various 
•States.  I  will  attend  to  that  for  a  little  while,  and  try  to 
inquire,  if  I  can,  how  on  earth  it  could  be  that  any  man  could 
draw  such  an  inference  from  any  thing  I  said.  I  have  said, 
very  many  times, ^in  Judge  Douglas's  hearing,  that  no  man 
believed  more  than  I  in  the  principle  of  self-government; 
that  it  lies  at  the  bottom  of  all  my  ideas  of 'just  government, 
from  beginning  to  end.  I  have  denied  that  his  use  of  that 
term  applies  properly.  But  for  the  thing  itself,  I  deny  that 
any  man  has  ever  gone  ahead  of  me  in  his  devotion  to  the 
principle,  whatever  he  may  have  done  in  efficiency  in  advocat- 
ing it.  I  think  that  I  have  said  it  in  your  hearing — that  I 
believe  each  individual  is  naturally  entitled  to  do  as  he  pleases 
with  himself  and  with  .the -fruit  of  his  labor,  so  far  as  it  in 
no  wise  interferes  with  any  other  man's  rights — [applause] 
that  each  community,  as  a  State,  has  a  right  to  do  exactly  as 
it  pleases  with  all  the  concerns  within  that  State  that  inter- 
fere with  the  .right  of  no  other  State,  and  that  the  General 
Government,  upon  principle,  has  no  right  to  interfere  with  any 
thing  other  than  that  general  class  of  things  that  does  concern 
the  whole.  I  have  said  that  at  all  times.  I  have  said  as  illus- 
trations, that  I  do  not  believe  in  the  right  of  Illinois  to  inter- 
fere with  the  cranberry  laws  of  Indiana,  the  oyster  laws  of 
Virginia,  or  the  liquor  laws  of  Maine.  I  have  said  these 
things  over  and  over  again,  and  1  repeat  them  here  as  my 
sentiments.  *  *  *  *  °  *  *  * 

So  much  then  as  to  my  disposition — my  wish — to  have  all 
the  Stato  Legislatures  blotted  out,  and  to  have  one  consolidated 
government,  and  a  uniformity  of  domestic  regulations  in  all 
the  States;  by  which  I  suppose  it  is  meant,  if  we  raise  corn 
here,  we  must  make  sugar-cane  grow  here  too,  and  we  must 


LIFE  OP  ABRAHAM  LINCOLN.  163 

make  those  which  grow  North  grow  in  the  South.  All  this 
I  suppose  he  understands  I  am  in  favor  of  doing.  Now, 
so  much  for  all  this  nonsense — for  I  must  call  it  so.  The 
Judge  can  have  no  issue  with  me  on  a  question  of  established 
uniformity  in  the  domestic  regulations  of  the  States. 

DRED   SCOTT  DECISION. 

A  little  now  on  the  other  point — the  Dred  Scott  decision. 
Another  of  the  issues  he  says  that  is  to  be  made  with  me,  is 
upon  his  devotion  to  the  Dred  Scott  decision,  and  my  opposi- 
tion to  it. 

I  have  expressed  heretofore,  and  I  now  repeat  my  opposi- 
tion to  the  Dred  Scott  decision,  but  I  should  be  allowed  to 
state  the  nature  of  that  opposition,  and  I  ask  your  indulgence 
while  I  do  so.  What  is  fairly  implied  by  the  term  Judge 
Douglas  has  used,  "resistance  to  the  decision?"  I  do  not 
resist  it.  If  I  wanted  to  take  Dred  Scott  from  his  master,  I 
would  be  interfering  with  property,  and  that  terrible  difficulty 
that  Judge  Douglas  speaks  of,  of  interfering  with  property 
would  arise.  But  I  am  doing  no  such  thing  as  that,  but  all 
that  I  am  doing  is  refusing  to  obey  it  as  a  political  rule.  If 
I  were  in  Congress,  and  a  vote  should  come  up  on  a  question 
whether  slavery  should  be  prohibited  in  a  new  Territory,  in 
spite  of  the  Dred  Scott  decision,  I  would  vote  that  it  should. 

That  is  what  I  would  do.  Judge  Douglas  said  last  night, 
that  before  the  decision  he  might  advance  his  opinion,  and  it 
might  be  contrary  to  the  decision  when  it  was  made ;  but  after 
it  was  made  he  would  abide  by  it  until  it  was  reversed.  Just 
so !  We  let  this  property  abide  by  the  decision,  but  we  will 
try  to  reverse  that  decision.  [Loud  applause.]  We  will  try 
to  put  it  where  Judge  Douglas  will  not  object,  for  he  says  he 
will  obey  it  until  it  is  reversed.  Somebody  has  to  reverse  that 
decision,  since  it  was  made,  and  we  mean  to  reverse  it,  and  we 
mean  to  do  it  peaceably. 

What  are  the  uses  of  decisions  of  courts?  They  have  two 
uses.  As  rules  of  property  they  have  two  uses.  First — they 
decide  upon  the  question  before  the  court.  They  decide  in 
this  case  that  Dred  Scott  is  a  slave.  Nobody  resists  that.  Not 
only  that,  but  they  say  to  every  body  else,  that  persons  stand- 
ing just  as  Dred  Scott  stands,  is  as  he  is.  That  is,  they  say 
that  when  a  question  comes  up  upon  another  person,  it  will  be 
so  decided  again  unless  the  court  decides  in  another  way,  unless 
the  court  overrules  its  decision.  [Renewed  applause.]  Well, 
we  mean  to  do  what  we  can  to  have  the  court  decide  the  other 
way.  That  is  one  thing  we  mean  to  try  to  do. 


164  LIFE   OF   ABRAHAM    LINCOLN. 

The  sacredness  that  Judge  Douglas  throws  around  this 
decision,  is  a  degree  of  sacredness  that  has  never  been  before 
thrown  around  any  other  decision.  I  have  never  heard  of 
such  a  thing.  Why,  decisions  apparently  contrary  to  that 
decision,  or  that  good  lawyers  thought  were  contrary  to  that 
decision,  have  been  made  by  that  very  court  befor^.  It  is 
the  first  of  its  kind  ;  it  is  an  astonisher  in  legal  history.  It  is 
a  new  wonder  of  the  world.  It  is  based  upon  falsehoods 
in  the  main  as  to  the  facts  —  allegations  of  facts  upon 
which  it  stands  are  not  facts  at  all  in  many  instances,  and 
no  decision  made  on  any  question — the  first  instance  of  a 
decision  made  under  so  many  unfavorable  circumstances — thus 
placed,  has  ever  been  held  by  the  profession  as  law,  and  it  has 
always  needed  confirmation  before  the  lawyers  regarded  it  as 
settled  law.  But  Judge  Douglas  will  have  it  that  all  hands 
must  take  this  extraordinary  decision,  made  under  these  extra- 
ordinary circumstances,  and  give  their  vote  in  Congress  in 
accordance  with  it,  yield  to  it  and  obey  it  in  every  possible 
sense.  Circumstances  alter  cases.  Do  not  gentlemen  here 
remember  the  case  of  that  same  Supreme  Court,  twenty-five  or 
thirty  years  ago,  deciding  that  a  National  Bank  was  Constitu- 
tional? I  ask,  if  somebody  does  not  remember  that  a  National 
Bank  was  declared  to  be  Constitutional  ?  Such  is  the  truth, 
•whether  it  be  remembered  or  not.  The  Bank  charter  ran 
out,  and  a  re-charter  was  granted  by  Congress.  That 
re-charter  was  laid  before  General  Jackson.  It  was  urged 
upon  him,  when  he  denied  the  Constitutionality  of  the  Bank, 
that  the  Supreme  Court  had  decided  that  it  was  Constitutional ; 
and  that  General  Jackson  then  said  that  the  Supreme  Court 
had  no  right  to  lay  down  a  rule  to  govern  a  co-ordinate  branch 
of  the  Government,  the  members  of  which  had  sworn  to  sup- 
port the  Constitution — that  each  member  had  sworn  to  support 
that  Constitution  as  he  understood  it.  I  will  venture  here  to 
say,  that  I  have  heard  Judge  Douglas  say  that  he  approved  of 
General  Jackson  for  that  act.  What  has  now  become  of  all 
his  tirade  about  "resistance  to  the  Supreme  Court?"  *  * 

THE   DECLARATION  OP    INDEPENDENCE. 

We  were  often  —  more  than  once,  at  least — in  the  course 
of  Judge  Douglas's  speech  last  night,  reminded  that  this 
Government  was  made  for  white  men  —  that  he  believed  it  was 
made  for  white  men.  Well,  that  is  putting  it  into  a  shape  in 
which  no  one  wants  to  deny  it;  tut  the  Judge  then  goes  into  his 
passion  for  drawing  inferences  that  are  not  warranted.  I  protest, 
now  and  forever,  against  that  counterfeit  logic  which  presumes 
that  because  I  did  not  want  a  negro  woman  for  a  slave,  I  do 


LIFE   OF   ABRAHAM    LINCOLN.  165 

necessarily  want  her  for  a  -wife.  My  understanding  is  that  I 
need  not  have  her  for  either ;  but,  as  God  made  us  separate, 
wo  can  leave  one  another  alone,  and  do  one  another  much 
good  thereby.  There  are  white  men  enough  to  marry  &il  the 
white  women,  and  enough  black  men  to  marry  all  the 
black  women,  and  in  God's  name  let  them  be  so  married. 
The  Judge  regales  us  with  the  terrible  enormities  that  take 
place  by  the  mixture  of  races ;  that  the  inferior  race  bears  the 
superior  down.  Why,  Judge,  if  you  do  not  let  them  get 
together  in  the  Territories  they  won't  mix  there. 

A  voice — "  Three  cheers  for  Lincoln."  (The  cheers  were 
given  with  a  hearty  good  will.) 

Mr.  L. — I  should  say  at  least  that  this  is  a  self-evident  truth. 

Now,  it  happens  that  we  meet  together  once  every  year, 
some  time  about  the  Fourth  of  July,  for  some  reason  or  other. 
These  Fourth  of  July  gatherings  I  suppose  have  their  uses. 
If  you  will  indulge  me,  I  will  state  what  I  suppose  to  be  som<5 
of  them. 

We  are  now  a  mighty  nation  ;  we  are  thirty,  or  about  thirty 
millions  of  people,  and  we  own  and  inhabit  about  one-fifteenth 
part  of  the  dry  land  of  the  whole  earth.  We  run  our  memory 
back  over  the  pages  of  history  for  about  eighty-two  years, 
and  we  discover  that  we  were  then  a  very  small  people  in 
point  of  numbers,  vastly  inferior  to  what  we  are  now,  with  a 
vastly  less  extent  of  country,  with  vastly  less  of  every  thing 
we  deem  desirable  among  men — we  look  upon  the  change  as 
exceedingly  advantageous  to  us  and  to  our  posterity,  and  we  fix 
upon  something  that  happened  away  back,  as  in  some  way  or 
other  being  connected  with  this  rise  of  prosperity.  We  find 
a  race  of  men  living  in  that  day  whom  we  claim  as  our  fathers 
and  grandfathers ;  they  were  iron  men  ;  they  fought  for  the 
principle  that  they  were  contending  for ;  and  we  understood 
that  by  what  they  then  did  it  has  followed  that  the  degree  of 
prosperity  which  we  now  enjoy  has  come  to  us.  We  hold  this 
annual  celebration  to  remind  ourselves  of  all  the  good  done 
in  this  process  of  time,  of  how  it  was  done  and  who  did  it, 
and  how  we  are  historically  connected  with  it;  and  we  go 
from  these  meetings  in  better  humor  with  ourselves — we  feel 
more  attached  the  one  to  the  other,  and  more  firmly  bound  to 
the  country  we  inhabit.  In  every  way  we  are  better  men  in 
the  age,  and  race,  and  country  in  which  we  live,  for  these  cel- 
ebrations. But  after  we  have  done  all  this,  we  have  not  yet 
reached  the  whole.  There  is  something  else  connected  with 
it.  We  have,  besides  these — men  descended  by  blood  from 
our  ancestors — those  among  us,  perhaps  half  our  people,  who 
are  not  descendants  at  all  of  these  men  ;  they  are  men  who 


166  LIFE  OP  ABRAHAM   LINCOLN. 

have  come  from  Europe — German,  Irish,  French  and  Scandi< 
navian — men  that  have  come  from  Europe  themselves,  or 
whose  ancestors  have  come  hither  and  settled  here,  finding 
themselves  our  equals  in  all  things.  If  they  look  back 
through  this  history  to  trace  their  connection  with  those  days 
hy  blood,  they  find  they  have  none  ;  they  can  not  carry  them- 
selves back  into  that  glorious  epoch  and  make  themselves  feel 
that  they  are  part  of  us ;  but  when  they  look  through  that  old 
Declaration  of  Independence,  they  find  that  those  old  men  say 
that  "  We  hold  these  truths  to  be  self-evident,  that  all  men  are 
created  equal,"  and  then  they  feel  that  that  moral  sentiment, 
taught  on  that  day,  evidence^  their  relation  to  those  men,  that 
it  is  the  father  of  all  moral' principle  in  them,  and  that  they 
have  a  right  to  claim  it  as  though  they  were  blood  of  the 
blood  and  flesh  of  the  flesh  of  the  men  who  wrote  that  Dec- 
laration [loud  and  long-continued  applause],  and  so  they  are. 
That  is  the  electric  cord  in  that  Declaration  that  links  the 
hearts  of  patriotic  and  liberty-loving  men  together,  that  will 
link  those  patriotic  hearts  as  long  as  the  love  of  freedom 
exists  in  the  minds  of  men  throughout  the  world.  [Applause.] 
Now,  sirs,  for  the  purpose  of  squaring  things  with  this  idea 
of  "  don't  care  if  slavery  is  voted  up  or  voted  down,"  for  sus- 
taining the  Dred  Scott  decision,  for  holding  that  the  Declara- 
tion of  Independence  did  not  mean  any  thing  at  all,  we  have 
Judge  Douglas  giving  his  exposition  of  what  the  Declaration 
of  Independence  means,  and  we  have  him  saying  that  the 
people  of  America  are  equal  to  the  people  of  England. 
According  to  his  construction,  you  Germans  are  not  connected 
with  it.  Now  I  ask  you  in  all  soberness,  if  all  these  things, 
if  indulged  in,  if  ratified,  if  confirmed  and  indorsed,  if  taught 
to  our  children  and  repeated  to  them,  do  not  tend  to  rub  out 
the  sentiment  of  liberty  in  the  country,  and  to  transform  this 
Government  into  a  government  of  some  other  form.  These 
arguments  that  are  made,  that  the  inferior  race  are  to  be 
treated  with  as  much  allowance  as  they  are  capable  of  enjoy- 
ing ;  that  as  much  is  to  be  done  for  them  as  their  condition 
will  allow  —  what  are  these  arguments?  They  are  the  argu- 
ments that  Kings  have  made  for  enslaving  the  people  in  all 
ages  of  the  world.  You  will  find  that  all  the  arguments  in 
favor  of  King-craft  were  of  this  class ;  they  always  bestrode 
the  necks  of  the  people,  not  that  they  wanted  to  do  it,  but 
because  the  people  were  better  off  for  being  ridden.  That  is 
their  argument,  and  this  argument  of  the  Judge  is  the  same 
old  serpent  that  says:  You  work  and  I  eat,  you  toil  and  I  will 
enjoy  the  fruits  of  it.  Turn  it  whatever  way  you  will — 
whether  it  come  from  the  mouth  of  a  King,  an  excuse  for 


LIFE   OF  ABRAHAM   LINCOLN.  167 

enslaving  the  people  of  his  country,  or  from  the  mouth  of 
men  of  one  race  as  a  reason  for  enslaving  the  men  of  another 
race,  it  is  all  the  same  old  serpent,  and  1  hold  if  that  course 
of  argumentation  that  is  made  for  the  purpose  of  convincing 
the  public  mind  that  we  should  not  care  about  this,  should  be 
granted,  it  does  not  stop  with  the  negro.  I  should  like  to 
know  if,  taking  this  old  Declaration  of  Independence,  which 
declares  that  all  men  are  equal  upon  principle,  you  begin 
making  exceptions  to  it,  where  you  will  stop?  If  one  man 
says  it  does  not  mean  a  negro,  why  not  another  say  it  does  not 
mean  some  other  man  ?  If  that  declaration  is  not  the  truth, 
let  us  get  the  statute  book,  in  which  we  find  it,  and  tear  it  out ! 
Who  is  so  bold  as  to  do  it !  If  it  is  not  true,  let  us  tear  it 
out !  [cries  of  "  no,  no  "]  ;  let  us  stick  to  it  then ;  let  us  stand 
firmly  by  it  then.  [Applause.] 

It  may  be  argued  that  there  are  certain  conditions  that 
make  necessities  and  impose  them  upon  us,  and  to  the  extent 
that  a  necessity  is  imposed  upon  a  man,  he  must  submit  to  it. 
I  think  that  was  the  condition  in  which  we  found  ourselves 
when  we  established  this  Government.  We  had  slaves  among 
us  ;  we  could  not  get  our  Constitution  unless  we  permitted 
them  to  remain  in  slavery ;  we  could  not  secure  the  good  we 
did  secure  if  we  grasped  for  more ;  and  having,  by  necessity, 
submitted  to  that  much,  it  does  not  destroy  the  principle  that 
is  the  charter  of  our  liberties.  Let  that  charter  stand  as  our 
standard. 

My  friend  has  said  to  me  that  I  am  a  poor  hand  to  quote 
Scripture.  I  will  try  it  again,  however.  It  is  said  in  one  of 
the  admonitions  of  our  Lord  :  "As  your  Father  in  Heaven  is 
perfect,  be  ye  also  perfect."  The  Saviour,  I  suppose,  did  not 
expect  that  any  human  creature  could  be  perfect  as  the  Father 
in  Heaven ;  but  He  said  :  "As  your  Father  in  Heaven  is  per- 
fect, be  ye  also  perfect."  He  set  that  up  as  a  standard,  and 
he  who  did  most  toward  reaching  that  standard,  attained  the 
highest  degree  of  moral  perfection.  So  I  say  in  relation  to. 
the  principle  that  all  men  are  created  equal,  let  it  be  as  nearly 
reached  as  we  can.  If  we  can  not  give  freedom  to  every  crea- 
ture, let  us  do  nothing  that  will  impose  slavery  upon  any 
other  creature.  [Applause.]  Let  us  then  turn  this  Govern- 
ment back  into  the  channel  in  which  the  framers  of  the  Con- 
stitution originally  placed  it.  Let  us  stand  firmly  by  each 
other.  If  we  do  not  do  so  we  are  turning  in  the  contrary 
direction,  that  our  friend  Judge  Douglas  proposes — not 
intentionally — as  working  in  the  traces  tends  to  make  this  one 
universal  slave  nation.  He  is  one  that  runs  in  that  direction, 
and  as  such  I  resist  him. 


168  LIFE   OP   ABRAHAM    LINCOLN. 

My  friends,  I  have  detained  you  about  as  long  as  I  desired 
to  do,  and  I  have  only  to  say,  let  us  discard  all  this  quibbling 
about  this  man  and  the  other  man  —  this  race  and  that  race 
and  the  other  race  being  inferior,  and  therefore  they  must  be 
placed  in  an  inferior  position  —  discarding  our  standard  that 
we  have  left  us.  Let  us  discard  all  these  things,  and  unite  as 
anc  people  throughout  this  land,  until  we  shall  once  more 
stand  up  declaring  that  all  men  are  created  equal. 

My  friends,  I  could  not,  without  launching  off  upon  some 
new  topic,  which  would  detain  you  too  long,  continue  to-night. 
I  thank  you  for  this  most  extensive  audience  that  you  have 
furnished  me  to-night.  I  leave  you,  hoping  that  the  lamp  of 
liberty  will  burn  in  your  bosoms  until  there  shall  no  longer 
be  a  doubt  that  all  men  are  created  free  and  equal. 

Mr.  Lincoln  retired  amid  a  perfect  torrent  of  applause  and 
cheers. 

A  week  later  than  his  Chicago  speech,  Mr.  Douglas  spoko 
at  Bloomington,  in  continuation  of  his  canvass.  Here  again, 
he  laid  great  stress  upon  his  "  popular  sovereignty  "  device, 
and  upon  his  Anti-Lecompton  rebellion.  He  also  repeated 
substantially  his  two  issues  against  Mr.  Lincoln,  based  upon 
the  Springfield  speech  of  June  16th.  Mr.  Lincoln  was  pres- 
ent and  heard  him.  The  next  day,  Douglas  made  a  speech  of 
similar  character  at  Springfield,  at  which  Mr.  Lincoln  was  not 
present.  The  latter,  however,  spoke  on  the  same  evening  at 
that  place.  The  following  are  some  of  the  chief  points  of 
Mr.  Lincoln's  speech  on  this  occasion  (July  17,  1858)  : 

INEQUALITIES  OF  THE  CONTEST— THE  APPORTIONMENT,  ETC. 

FELLOW  CITIZENS  :  Another  election,  which  is  deemed  an 
important  one,  is  approaching,  and,  as  I  suppose,  the  Republi- 
can party  will,  without  much  difficulty,  elect  their  State  ticket. 
But  in  regard  to  the  Legislature,  we,  the  Republicans,  labor 
under  some  disadvantages.  In  the  first  place,  we  have  a  Leg- 
islature to  elect  upon  an  apportionment  of  the  representation 
made  several  years  ago,  when  the  proportion  of  the  population 
was  far  greater  in  the  South  (as  compared  with  the  North)  than 
it  now  is  ;  and  inasmuch  as  our  opponents  hold  almost  entire 
sway  in  the  South,  and  we  a  correspondingly  large  majority  in 
the  North,  the  fact  that  we  are  now  to  be  represented  as  we 
were  years  ago,  when  the  population  was  different,  is,  to  us,  a 
very  great  disadvantage.  We  had  in  the  year  1855,  according 
to  law,  a  census,  or  enumeration  of  the  inhabitants,  taken  for 


LIFE   OP   ABRAHAM   LINCOLN.  169 

the  purpose  of  a  new  apportionment  of  representation.  We 
know  what  a  fair  apportionment  of  representation  upon  that 
census  would  give  us.  We  know  that  it  could  not,  if  fairly 
made,  fail  to  give  the  Republican  party  from  six  to  ten  more 
members  of  the  Legislature  than  they  can  probably  get  as  the 
law  now  stands.  It  so  happened  at  the  last  session  of  the 
Legislature,  that  our  opponents,  holding  the  control  of  both 
branches  of  the  Legislature,  steadily  refused  to  give  us  such  an 
apportionment  as  we  were  rightly  entitled  to  have  upon  the  cen- 
sus already  taken.  The  Legislature  would  pass  no  bill  upon  that 
subject,  except  such  as  was  at  least  as  unfair  to  us  as  the  old 
one,  and  in  which,  in  some  instances,  two  men  from  the  Dem- 
ocratic regions  were  allowed  to  go  as  far  toward  sending  a 
member  to  the  Legislature  as  three  were  in  the  Republican 
regions.  Comparison  was  made  at  the  time  as  to  representa- 
tive and  senatorial  districts,  which  completely  demonstrated 
that  such  was  the  fact.  Such  a  bill  was  passed,  and  tendered 
to  the  Republican  Governor  for  his  signature  ;  but,  principally 
for  the  reasons  I  have  stated,  he  withheld  his  approval,  and  the 
bill  fell  without  becoming  a  law. 

Another  disadvantage  under  which  we  labor  is,  that  there 
are  one  or  two  Democratic  Senators  who  will  be  members  of 
the  next  Legislature,  and  will  vote  for  the  election  of  Senator, 
who  are  holding  over  in  districts  in  which  we  could,  on  all  rea- 
sonable calculation,  elect  men  of  our  own,  if  we  only  had  the 
chance  of  an  election.  When  we  consider  that  there  are  but 
twenty-five  Senators  in  the  Senate,  taking  two  from  the  side 
where  they  rightfully  belong,  and  adding  them  to  the  other, 
is  to  us  a  disadvantage  not  to  be  lightly  regarded.  Still,  so  it 
is  ;  we  have  this  to  contend  with.  Perhaps  there  is  no  ground 
of  complaint  on  our  part.  In  attending  to  the  many  things 
involved  in  the  last  general  election  for  President,  Governor, 
Auditor,  Treasurer,  Superintendent  of  Public  Instruction, 
Members  of  Congress  and  of  the  Legislature,  County  Officers, 
and  so  on,  we  allowed  these  things  to  happen  for  want  of  suf- 
ficient attention,  and  we  have  no  cause  to  complain  of  our 
adversaries,  so  far  as  this  matter  is  concerned.  But  we  have 
Borne  cause  to  complain  of  the  refusal  to  give  us  a  fair 
apportionment. 

There  is  still  another  disadvantage  under  which  we  labor, 
and  to  which  I  will  ask  your  attention.  It  arises  out  of  the 
relative  position  of  the  two  persons  who  stand  before  the  State 
as  candidates  for  the  Senate.  Senator  Douglas  is  of  world-wide 
renown.  All  the  anxious  politicians  of  his  party,  or  who 
have  been  of  his  party  for  years  past,  have  been  looking  upon 
liiui  as  certainly,  at  no  distant  day,  to  be  the  President  of  the 
15 


170  LIFE   OP    ABRAHAM    LINCOLN. 

United  States.  They  have  seen  in  his  round,  jolly,  fruitful 
face,  post  offices,  land  offices,  marshalsbips,  and  cabinet 
appointments,  chargeships  and  foreign  missions,  bursting  and 
sprouting  out  in  wonderful  luxuriance,  ready  to  be  laid  hold 
of  by  their  greedy  hands.  [Great  laughter.]  And  as  they 
have  been  gazing  upon  this  attractive  picture  so  long,  they 
can  not,  in  the  little  distraction  that  has  taken  place  in  the 
party,  bring  themselves  to  give  up  the  charming  hope ;  but 
with  greedier  anxiety  they  rush  about  him,  sustain  him,  and 
give  him  marches,  triumphal  entries,  and  receptions,  beyond 
what  even  in  the  days  of  his  highest  prosperity  they  could 
have  brought  about  in  his  favor.  On  the  contrary,  nobody 
has  ever  expected  me  to  be  President.  In  my  poor,  lean,  lank 
face,  nobody  has  ever  seen  that  any  cabbages  were  sprouting 
out.  [Cheering  and  laughter.]  These  are  disadvantages  all, 
that  the  Republicans  labor  under.  We  have  to  fight  this  bat- 
tle upon  principle,  and  upon  principle  alone.  I  am,  in  a  cer- 
tain sense,  made  the  standard-bearer  in  behalf  of  the  Repub- 
licans. I  was  made  so  merely  because  there  had  to  be  some 
one  so  placed — I  being  in  no  wise  preferable  to  any  other  ono 
of  the  twenty-five — perhaps  a  hundred  we  have  in  the  Repub- 
lican ranks.  Then  I  say  I  wish  it  to  be  distinctly  understood 
and  borne  in  mind,  that  we  have  to  fight  this  battle  without 
many — perhaps  without  any — of  the  external  aids  which  are 
brought  to  bear  against  us.  So  I  hope  those  with  whom  I  am 
surrounded  have  principle  enough  to  nerve  themselves  for  the 
task,  and  leave  nothing  undone,  that  can  be  fairly  done,  to 
bring  about  the  right  re3ult. 


V 
THE   DOUGLAS   PROGRAMME. 


After  Senator  Douglas  left  Washington,  as  his  movements 
were  made  known  by  the  public  prints,  he  tarried  a  considera- 
ble time  in  the  city  of  New  York ;  and  it  was  heralded  that, 
like  another  Napoleon,  he  was  lying  by  and  framing  the  plan 
of  his  campaign.  It  was  telegraphed  to  Washington  city,  and 
published  in  the  Union,  that  he  was  framing  his  plan  for  the 
purpose  of  going  to  Illinois  to  pounce  upon  and  annihilate  the 
treasonable  and  disunion,  speech  which  Lincoln  had  made  here 
on  the  16th  of  June.  Now,  I  do  suppose  the  Judge  really 
spent  some  time  in  New  York  maturing  the  plan  of  the  cam- 
paign, as  his  friends  heralded  for  him.  I  have  been  able,  by 
noting  his  movements  since  his  arrival  in  Illinois,  to  discover 
evidences  confirmatory  of  that  allegation.  I  think  I  have 
been  able  to  see  what  are  the  material  points  of  that  plan.  I 
will,  for  a  little  while,  ask  your  attention  to  some  of  them. 


LIFE   OP   ABRAHAM    LINCOLN.  171 

"What  I  shall  point  out,  though  not  showing  the  whole  plan, 
are,  nevertheless,  the  main  points,  as  I  suppose. 

They  are  not  very  numerous.  The  first  is  Popular  Sove- 
reignty. The  second  and  third  are  attacks  upon  my  speech 
made  on  the  16th  of  June.  Out  of  these  three  points — draw- 
ing within  the  range  of  popular  sovereignty  the  question  of  the 
Lecompton  Constitution  —  he  makes  his  principal  assault. 
Upon  these  his  successive  speeches  are  substantially  one  and 
the  same.  On  this  matter  of  popular  sovereignty  I  wish  to  be 
a  little  careful.  Auxiliary  to  these  main  points,  to  be  sure, 
are  their  thunderings  of  cannon,  their  marching  and  music, 
their  fizzle-gigs  and  fire-works ;  but  I  will  not  waste  time  with 
them.  They  are  but  the  little  trappings  of  the  campaign. 

POPULAR   SOVEREIGNTY. 

Coming  to  the  substance — the  first  point — "  popular  sove- 
reignty." It  is  to  be  labeled  upon  the  cars  in  which  he  travels ; 
put  upon  the  hacks  he  rides  in ;  to  be  flaunted  upon  the 
arches  he  passes  under,  and  the  banners  which  wave  over  him. 
It  is  to  be  dished  up  in  as  many  varieties  as  a  French  cook 
can  produce  soups  from  potatoes.  Now,  as  this  is  so  great  a 
staple  of  the  plan  of  the  campaign,  it  is  worth  while  to  exam- 
ine it  carefully;  and  if  we  examine  only  a  very  little,  and  do 
not  allow  ourselves  to  be  misled,  we  shall  be  able  to  see  that 
the  whole  thing  is  the  most  arrant  Quixotism  that  was  ever 
enacted  before  a  community.  What  is  this  matter  of  popular 
sovereignty?  The  first  thiug,  in  order  to  understand  it,  is  to 
get  a  good  definition  of  what  it  is,  and  after  that  to  see  how  it 
is  applied. 

I  suppose  almost  every  one  knows,  that  in  this  controversy, 
whatever  has  been  said  has  had  reference  to  the  question  of 
negro  slavery.  We  have  not  been  in  a  controversy  about  the 
right  of  the  people  to  govern  themselves  in  the  ordinary  mat- 
ters of  domestic  concern  in  the  States  and  Territories.  Mr. 
Buchanan,  in  one  of  his  late  messages  (I  think  when  he  sent 
up  the  Lecompton  Constitution),  urged  that  the  main  point 
to  which  the  public  attention  had  been  directed,  was  not  in  re- 
gard to  the  great  variety  of  small  domestic  matters,  but  it  was 
directed  to  the  question  of  negro  slavery ;  and  he  asserts,  that 
if  the  people  had  had  a  fair  chance  to  vote  on  that  question, 
there  was  no  reasonable  ground  of  objection  in  regard  to  minor 
questions.  Now,  while  I  think  that  the  people  had  not  had 
given,  or  offered  them,  a  fair  chance  upon  that  slavery  ques- 
tion ;  still,  if  there  had  been  a  fair  submission  to  a  vote  upon 
that  main  question,  the  President's  proposition  would  have 
been  true  to  the  uttermost.  Hence,  when  hereafter  I  speak 


172  LIFE  OP   ABRAHAM    LINCOLN. 

of  popular  sovereignty,  I  wish  to  be  understood  as  applying 
what  I  say  to  the  question  of  slavery  only,  not  to  other  minor 
domestic  matters  of  a  Territory  or  a  State. 

Does  Judge  Douglas,  when  he  says  that  several  of  the  past 
years  of  his  life  have  been  devoted  to  the  question  of  "  popular 
sovereignty,"  and  that  all  the  remainder  of  his  life  shall  be 
devoted  to  it,  does  he  mean  to  say  that  he  has  been  devoting 
his  life  to  securing  to  the  people  of  the  Territories,  the  right 
to  exclude  slavery  from  the  Territories?  If  he  means  so  to 
say,  he  means  to  deceive ;  because  he  and  every  one  knows  that 
the  decision  of  the  Supreme  Court,  which  he  approves  and 
makes  an  especial  ground  of  attack  upon  me  for  disapproving, 
forbids  the  people  of  a  Territory  to  exclude  slavery.  This 
covers  the  whole  ground,  from  the  settlement  of  a  Territory 
till  it  reaches  the  degree  of  maturity  entitling  it  to  form  a  State 
Constitution.  So  far  as  all  that  ground  is  concerned,  the  Judge 
is  not  sustaining  popular  sovereignty,  but  absolutely  opposing 
it.  He  sustains  the  decision  which  declares  that  the  popular 
will  of  the  Territories  has  no  Constitutional  power  to  exclude 
slavery  during  their  Territorial  existence.  [Cheers.]  This 
being  so,  the  period  of  time,  from  the  first  settlement  of  a 
•Territory  till  it  reaches  the  point  of  forming  a  State  Constitu- 
tion, is  not  the  thing  that  the  Judge  has  fought  for,  or  is  fight- 
ing for,  but  on  the  contrary,  he  has  fought  for,  and  is  fighting 
for,  the  thing  that  annihilates  and  crushes  out  that  same  popu- 
lar sovereignty. 

Well,  so  much  being  disposed  of,  what  is  left?  Why,  he  is 
contending  for  the  right  of  the  people,  when  they  come  to 
make  a  State  Constitution,  to  make  it  for  themselves,  and  pre- 
cisely as  best  suits  themselves.  I  say  again,  that  is  Quixotic. 
I  defy  contradiction,  when  I  declare  that  the  Judge  can  find 
no  one  to  oppose  him  on  that  proposition.  I  repeat,  there  is 
nobody  opposing  that  proposition  on  principle.  Let  me  not  be 
misunderstood.  I  know  that,  with  reference  to  the  Lecomp- 
ton  Constitution,  I  may  be  misunderstood ;  but  when  you 
understand  me  correctly,  my  proposition  will  be  true  and  accu- 
rate. Nobody  is  opposing,  or  has  opposed,  the  right  of  the 
people,  when  they  form  a  Constitution,  to  form  it  for  them- 
selves. Mr.  Buchanan  and  his  friends  have  not  done  it;  they, 
too,  as  well  as  the  Republicans  and  the  Anti-Lecompton  Demo- 
crats, have  not  done  it ;  but,  on  the  contrary,  they  together 
have  insisted  on  the  right  of  the  people  to  form  a  Constitution 
for  themselves.  The  difference  between  the  Buchanan  men, 
on  the  one  hand,  and  the  Douglas  men  and  the  Republicans 
on  the  other,  has  not  been  on  a  question  of  principle,  but  on 
a  question  of  fact.  ^ 


LIFE  OF  ABRAHAM   LINCOLN.  173 

The  dispute  was  upon  the  question  of  fact,  whether  the  Le- 
compton  Constitution  had  been  fairly  formed  by  the  people, 
or  not.  Mr.  Buchanan  and  his  friends  have  not  contended  for 
the  contrary  principle,  any  more  than  the  Douglas  men  or  the 
Republicans.  They  have  insisted,  that  whatever  of  small 
irregularities  existed  in  getting  up  the  Lecompton  Constitution, 
were  such  as  happen  in  the  settlement  of  all  new  Territories. 
The  question  was.  was  it  a  fair  emanation  of  the  people  ?  It 
was  a  question  of  fact,  and  not  of  principle.  As  to  the  princi- 
ple, all  were  agreed.  Judge  Douglas  voted  with* the  Republi- 
cans upon  that  matter  of  fact. 

He  and  they,  by  their  voices  and  votes,  denied  that  it  was  a 
fair  emanation  of  the  people.  The  Administration  affirmed 
that  it  was.  With  respect  to  the  evidence  bearing  upon  that 
question  of  fact,  I  readily  agree  that  Judge  Douglas  and  the 
Republicans  had  the  right  on  their  side,  and  that  the  Adminis- 
tration was  wrong.  But  I  state  again  that,  as  a  matter  of 
principle,  there  is  no  dispute  upon  the  right  of  a  people  in  a 
Territory,  merging  into  a  State,  to  form  a  Constitution  for 
themselves,  without  outside  interference  from  any  quarter. 
This  being  so,  what  is  Judge  Douglas  going  to  spend  his  life 
for?  Is  he  going  to  spend  his  life  in  maintaining  a  principle 
that  nobody  on  earth  opposes?  [Cheers.]  Does  he  expect  to 
stand  up  in  majestic  dignity,  and  go  through  his  apotheosis, 
and  become  a  god,  in  the  maintaining  of  a  principle  which 
neither  man  nor  mouse,  in  all  God's  creation,  is  opposing? 
[Great  applause.] 

THE  LEOOMPTON    ISSUE. 

.  How  will  he  prove  that  we  have  ever  occupied  a  different 
position  in  regard  to  the  Lecompton  Constitution,  or  any 
principle  in  it?  He  says  he  did  not  make  his  opposition  on 
the  ground  as  to  whether  it  was  a  free  or  a  slave  Constitution, 
and  he  would  have  you  understand  that  the  Republicans  made 
their  opposition  because  it  ultimately  became  a  slave  Consti- 
tution. To  make  proof  in  favor  of  himself  on  this  point,  he 
reminds  us  that  he  opposed  Lecompton  before  the  vote  was 
taken  declaring  whether  the  State  was  to  be  free  or  slare.  But 
he  forgets  to  say,  that  our  Republican  Senator,  Trumbull, 
made  a  speech  against  Lecompton  even  before  he  did. 

Why  did  he  oppose  it  ?  Partly,  as  he  declares,  because  th« 
members  of  the  Convention  who  framed  it  were  not  fairly 
elected  by  the  people ;  that  the  people  were  not  allowed  to  vote 
unless  they  had  been  registered;  and  that  the  people  of  whole 
counties,  in  some  instances,  were  not  registered.  For  these 
reasons  he  declares  the  Constitution  was  not  an  emanation,  in 


174  LIFE  OP  ABRAHAM   LINCOLN. 

any  true  sense,  from  the  people.  He  also  has  an  additional 
objection  as  to  the  mode  of  submitting  the  Constitution  back  to 
the  people.  But  bearing  on  the  question  of  whether  the  dele- 
gates were  fairly  elected,  a  speech  of  his  made  something  more 
than  twelve  months  ago,  from  this  stand,  becomes  important. 
It  was  made  a  little  while  before  the  election  of  the  delegates 
who  made  Lecompton.  In  that  speech  he  declared  there  was 
every  reason  to  hope  and  believe  the  election  would  be  fair  ; 
and  if  any  one  failed  to  vote  it  would  be  his  own  fault. 

I,  a  few  days  after,  made  a  sort  of  answer  to  that  speech. 
In  that  answer,  I  made,  substantially,  the  very  argument  with 
which  he  combated  his  Lecompton  adversaries  in  the  Senate 
last  winter.  I  pointed  to  the  fact  that  the  people  could  not 
vote  without  being  registered,  and  that  the  time  for  registering 
had  gone  by.  I  commented  on  it  as  wonderful  that  Judge 
Douglas  could  be  ignorant  of  these  facts,  which  every  one  else 
in  the  nation  so  well  knew. 

[Mr.  Lincoln  then  proceeded  to  notice  the  attacks  made  by 
Douglas  on  the  6th  of  June  speech  of  the  former.  In  sub- 
stance, it  is  like  his  reply  at  Chicago.  Some  of  its  more 
striking  passages  are  here  subjoined.] 

He  charges,  in  substance,  that  I  invite  a  war  of  sections ; 
that  I  propose  that  all  the  local  institutions  of  the  different 
States  shall  become  consolidated  and  uniform.  What  is  there 
in  the  language  of  that  speech  which  expresses  such  purpose, 
or  bears  such  construction  ?  I  have  again  and  again  said  that 
I  would  not  enter  into  any  of  the  States  to  disturb  the  institu-^ 
tion  of  slavery.  Judge  Douglas  said,  at  Bloomington,  that  I* 
used  language  most  able  and  ingenious  for  concealing  what  I 
really  meant ;  and  that,  while  I  had  protested  against  entering 
into  the  slave  States,  I  nevertheless  did  mean  to  go  on  the  banks 
of  the  Ohio  and  throw  missiles  into  Kentucky,  to  disturb  the 
people  there  in  their  domestic  institutions. 

I  said  in  that  speech,  and  I  meant  no  more,  that  the  institu- 
tion of  slavery  ought  to  be  placed  in  the  very  attitude  where 
the  framers  of  this  Government  placed  it,  and  left  it.  I  do 
not  understand  that  the  framers  of  our  Constitution  left  the 
people  of  the  free  States  in  the  attitude  of  firing  bombs  or 
shells  into  the  slave  States.  I  was  not  using  that  passage  for 
the  purpose  for  which  he  infers  I  did  use  it.  *  *  *  Now 
you  all  see,  from  that  quotation,  I  did  not  express  my  wish  on 
anything.  In  that  passage  I  indicated  no  wish  or  purpose  of 
my  own ;  I  simply  expressed  nty  expectation. 


LIFE   OF   ABRAHAM   LINCOLN.  176 

[Further  on,  Mr.  Lincoln  said  :  ] 

Mr.  Brooks,  of  South  Carolina,  in  one  of  his  speeches,  when 
they  were  presenting  him  canes,  silver  plate,  gold  pitchers  and 
the  like,  for  assaulting  Senator  Sumner,  distinctly  affirmed  his 
opinion  that  when  this  Constitution  was  formed,  it  was  the 
belief  of  no  man  that  slavery  would  last  to  the  present  day. 

He  said,  what  I  think,  that  the  framers  of  our  Constitution 
placed  the  institution  of  slavery  where  the  public  mind  rested 
in  the  hope  that  it  was  in  the  course  of  ultimate  extinction. 
But  he  went  on  to  say  that  the  men  of  the  present  age,  by 
their  experience,  have  become  wiser  than  the  framers  of  the 
Constitution  ;  and  the.  invention  of  the  cotton-gin  had  made 
the  perpetuity  of  slavery  a  necessity  in  this  country. 

[Recurring  to  the  Dred  Scott  case,  after  citing  Jefferson's 
views  on  judicial  decisions,  and  alluding  to  the  course  of  the 
Democracy,  Douglas  included,  in  regard  to  the  National  Bank 
decision,  Mr.  Lincoln  said  :  ] 

Now,  I  wish  to  know  what  the  Judge  can  charge  upon  me, 
with  respect  to  decisions  of  the  Supreme  Court,  which  does  not 
lie  in  all  its  length,  breadth  and  proportions  at  his  own  door. 
The  plain  truth  is  simply  this  :  Judge  Douglas  is  for  Supreme 
Court  decisions  when  he  likes  and  against  them  when  he  does 
not  like  them.  He  is  for  the'Dred  Scott  decision  because  it 
tends  to  nationalize  slavery — because  it  is  part  of  the  original 
combination  for  that  object.  It  so  happened,  singularly  enough, 
that  I  never  stood  opposed  to  a  decision  of  the  Supreme  Court 
till  this.  On  the  contrary,  I  have  no  recollection  that  he  was 
ever  particularly  in  favor  of  one  till  this.  He  never  was  in 
favor  of  any,  nor  I  opposed  to  any,  till  the  present  one,  which 
helps  to  nationalize  slavery. 

Free  men  of  Sangamon — free  men  of  Illinois — free  men 
everywhere — judge  ye  between  him  and  me,  upon  this  issue. 

Near  the  close  of  July,  various  speeches  having  been  made 
by  each  at  different  points,  an  arrangement  for  one  joint  dis- 
cussion in  each  of  the  seven  Congressional  districts,  in  which 
they  had  not  already  both  spoken,  was  agreed  upon.  At  this" 
stage  of  the  canvass,  the  people  of  the  whole  country  were 
beginning  to  take  a  lively  interest  in  this  contest,  and  the 
reports  of  the  first  debate  at  Ottawa  were  eagerly  sought  for 
and  read,  at  the  East  and  at  the  West.  The  friends  of  Mr. 
Lincoln,  and  the  Republicans  in  general,  were  well  pleased 


176  LITE   OP   ABRAHAM    LINCOLN. 

•with  the  manner  in  which  he  acquitted  himself  in  this  joint 
discussion.  At  each  succeeding  encounter  of  this  sort,  the 
impression  was  strengthened,  throughout  the  country,  that  Mr. 
Lincoln  was  obtaining  decided  advantages  over  his  opponent. 
At  Freeport,  he  forced  Douglas  into  an  attempted  reconcilia- 
tion of  the  hitherto  unexplained  inconsistencies  between  his 
squatter  sovereignty  theory,  and  his  support  of  the  Dred  Scott 
decision,  which  utterly  excludes  squatter  sovereignty  in  prac- 
tice. His  "  unfriendly  legislation  "  device,  on  that  occasion, 
cost  Douglas  the  loss  of  the  last  possibility  of  any  reconcilia- 
tion with  the  Southern  Democracy.  While  this  answer,  most 
unwillingly  given,  perhaps,  yet  announced  with  apparent  alac- 
rity, contributed  something  toward  effecting  his  immediate, 
temporary  purpose,  it  undoubtedly  destroyed  all  his  remoter 
chances  as  a  Presidential  candidate  of  a  united  Democracy. 

The  Ottawa  debate  is  memorable  for  one  of  the  most  sur- 
prising political  devices  ever  resorted  to  by  a  man  in  high 
position,  like  Douglas.  It  consisted  in  quoting  a  series  of 
ultra  resolutions  adopted  at  a  small  local  convention  long  before 
the  party  was  formed,  and  palming  them  off  as  the  platform 
adopted  by  "  the  first  mass  State  convention  ever  held  in  Illi- 
nois by  the  Black  Republican  party."  On  these  resolutions, 
to  which  he  assumed  that  Lincoln  was  committed,  Douglas 
based  a  series  of  questions,  which  the  former,  duly  exposing 
the  imposition  thus  practiced,  frankly  and  most  explicitly 
answered  at  Freeport,  the  scene  of  the  second  debate,  as 
follows  : 

OPENING  PASSAGES  OF  MB.  LINCOLN'S  FREEPORT  SPEECH. 

LADIES  AND  GENTLEMEN  :. — On  Saturday  last,  Judge  Doug- 
las and  myself  first  met  in  public  discussion.  He  spoke  one 
hour,  I  an  hour  and  a  half,  and  he  replied  for  half  an  hour. 
The  order  is  now  reversed.  I  am  to  speak  an  hour,  lie  an 
hour  and  a  half,  and  then  I  am  to  reply  for  half  an  hour.  I 
propose  to  devote  myself  during  the  first  hour  to  the  scope 
of  what  was  brought  within  the  range  of  his  half-hour  speech 
at  Ottawa.  Of  course  there  was  brought  within  the  scope  of 
that  half-hour's  speech  something  of  his  own  opening  speech. 
In  the  course  of  that  opening  argument  Judge  Douglas  pro- 
posed to  roe  seven  distinct  interrogatories.  In  my  speech  of 


LIFE   OP   ABRAHAM    LINCOLN.  177 

an  hour  and  a  half,  I  attended  to  some  other  parts  of  his 
speech,  and  incidentally,  as  I  thought,  answered  one  of  the 
interrogatories  then.  1  then  distinctly  intimated  to  him  that 
I  would  answer  the  rest  of  his  interrogatories  on  condition  only 
that  he  should  agree  to  answer  as  many  for  me.  He  made  no 
intimation  at  the  time  of  the  proposition,  nor  did  he  in  his 
reply  allude  at  all  to  that  suggestion  of  mine.  I  do  him  no 
injustice  in  saying  that  he  occupied  at  least  half  of  his  reply 
in  dealing  with  me  as  though  I  had  refused  to  answer  his 
interrogatories.  I  now  propose  that  I  will  answer  any  of  the 
interrogatories,  upon  condition  that  he  will  answer  questions 
from  nie  not  exceeding  the  same  number.  I  give  him  an 
opportunity  to  respond.  The  Judge  remains  silent.  I  now 
say  that  I  will  answer  his  interrogatories,  whether  he  answers 
mine  or  not  [applause] :  and  that  after  I  have  done  so,  I  shall 
propound  mine  to  him.  [Applause.] 

1  have  supposed  myself,  since  the  organization  of  the  Repub- 
lican party  at  Bloomington,  in  May,  1856,  bound  as  a  party 
man  by  the  platforms  of  the  party,  then  and  since.  If  in  any 
interrogatories  which  I  shall  answer  I  go  beyond  the  scope 
of  what  is  within  these  platforms,  it  will  be  perceived  that  no 
one  is  responsible  but  myself. 

Having  said  thus  much,  I  will  take  up  the  Judge's  inter- 
rogatories as  I  find  them  printed  in  the  Chicago  Times,  and 
answer  them  seriatim.  In  order  that  there  may  be  no  mistake 
about  it,  I  have  copied  the  interrogatories  in  writing,  and  also 
my  answers  to  them.  The  first  one  of  these  interrogatories  is 
in  these  words : 

Question  1.  "I  desire  to  know  whether  Lincoln  to-day 
stands,  as  he  did  in  1854,  in  favor  of  the  unconditional  repeal 
of  the  Fugitive  Slave  law?" 

Answer.  I  do  not  now,  nor  ever  did,  stand  in  favor  of  the 
unconditional  repeal  of  the  Fugitive  Slave  law. 

Q.  2.  "  I  desire  him  to  answer  whether  he  stands  pledged 
to-day,  as  he  did  in  1854,  against  the  admission  of  any  more 
slave  States  into  the  Union,  even  if  the  people  want  them  ?  " 

A.  I  do  not  now,  nor  ever  did,  stand  pledged  against  the 
admission' of  any  more  slave  States  into  the  Union. 

Q.  3.  "  I  want  to  know  whether  he  stands  pledged  against 
the  admission  of  a  new  State  into  the  Union  with  such  a 
Constitution  as  the  people  of  that  State  may  see  fit  to  make?" 

A.  I  do  not  stand  pledged  against  the  admission  of  a  new 
State  into  the  Union,  with  such  a  Constitution  as  the  people 
of  that  State  may  see  fit  to  make. 

Q.  4.  "  I  want  to  know  whether  he  stands  to-day  pledged 
to  the  abolition  of  slavery  in  the  District  of  Columbia  ?  " 
10 


178  LIFE   OF   ABRAHAM    LINCOLN. 

A.  I  do  not  stand  to-day  pledged  to  the  abolition  of  slavery 
in  the  District  of  Columbia. 

Q.  5.  "  I  desire  him  to  answer  whether  he  stands  pledged  to 
the  prohibition  of  the  slave-trade  between  the  different  States?  " 

A.  I  do  not  stand  pledged  to  the  prohibition  of  the  slave- 
trade  between  the  different  States. 

Q.  6.  "  I  desire  to  know  whether  he  stands  pledged  to  pro- 
hibit slavery  in  all  the  Territories  of  the  United  States,  North 
as  well  as  South  of  the  Missouri  Compromise  line  ?  " 

A.  I  am  impliedly,  if  not  expressly,  pledged  to  a  belief  in 
the  right  and  duty  of  Congress  to  prohibit  slavery  in  all  the 
United  States  Territories.  [Great  applause.] 

Q.  7>  "  I  desire  him  to  answer  whether  he  is  opposed  to  the 
acquisition  of  any  new  territory  unless  slavery  is  first  pro- 
hibited therein?" 

A.  I  am  not  generally  opposed  to  honest  acquisition  of  ter- 
ritory ;  and,  in  any  given  case,  I  would  or  would  not  oppose 
such  acquisition,  accordingly  as  I  might  think  such  acquisition 
would  or  would  not  agitate  the  slavery  question  among  our- 
selves. 

Now,  my  friends,  it  will  be  perceived  upon  an  examination 
of  these  questions  and  answers,  that  so  far  I  have  only 
answered  that  I  was  not  pledged  to  this,  that  or  the  other. 
The  Judge  has  not  framed  his  interrogatories  to  ask  me  any 
thing  more  than  this,  and  I  have  answered  in  strict  accord- 
ance with  the  interrogatories,  and  have  answered  truly  that 
I  am  not  pledged  at  all  upon  any  of  the  points  to  which 
I  have  answered.  But  I  am  not  disposed  to  hang  upon  the 
exact  form  of  his  interrogatory.  I  am  rather  disposed  to  take 
up  at  least  some  of  these  questions,  and  state  what  I  really 
think  upon  them. 

As  to  the  first  one,  in  regard  to  the  Fugitive  Slave  law,  I 
have  never  hesitated  to  say,  and  I  do  not  now  hesitate  to 
say,  that  I  think,  under  the  Constitution  of  the  United  States, 
the  people  of  the  Southern  States  are  entitled  to  a  Congres- 
sional Slave  law.  Having  said  that,  I  have  had  nothing  to  say 
in  regard  to  the  existing  Fugitive  Slave  law,  further  than 
that  I  think  it  should  have  been  framed  so  as  to  be  free  from 
some  of  the  objections  that  pertain  to  it,  without  lessening  its 
efficiency.  And  inasmuch  as  we  are  not  now  in  an  agitation 
in  regard  to  an  alteration  or  modification  of  that  law,  I  would 
not  be  the  man  to  introduce  it  as  a  new  subject  of  agitation 
upon  the  general  question  of  slavery. 

In  regard  to  the  other  question,  of  whether  I  am  pledged 
to  the  admission  of  any  more  slave  States  into  the  Union,  I 
state  to  you  very  frankly  that  I  would  be  exceedingly  sorry 


LIFE   OP   ABRAHAM   LINCOLN.  179 

ever  to  be  put  in  a  position  of  having  to  pass  upon  that  ques- 
tion. I  should  be  exceedingly  glad  to  know  that  there  would 
never  be  another  slave  State  admitted  into  the  Union ;  but 
I  must  add,  that  if  slavery  shall  be  kept  out  of  the  Terri- 
tories during  the  Territorial  existence  of  any  one  given  Terri- 
tory, and  then  the  people  shall,  having  a  fair  chance  and  a 
clear  field,  when  they  come  to  adopt  the  Constitution,  do  such 
an  extraordinary  thing  as  to  adopt  a  slave  Constitution,  unin- 
fluenced by  the  actual  presence  of  the  institution  among  them, 
I  see  no  alternative  if  we  own  the  country,  but  to  admit  them 
into  the  Union.  [Applause.]] 

The  third  interrogatory  is  answered  by  the  answer  to  the 
second,  it  being,  as  I  conceive,  the  same  as  the  second. 

The  fourth  one  is  in  regard  to  the  abolition  of  slavery  in  the 
District  of  Columbia.  In  relation  to  that,  I  have  my  mind 
very  distinctly  made  up.  I  should  be  exceedingly  glad  to  see 
slavery  abolished  in  the  District  of  Columbia.  I  believe  that 
Congress  possesses  the  Constitutional  power  to  abolish  it.  Yet 
as  a  member  of  Congress,  I  should  not  with  my  present  views, 
be  in  favor  of  endeavoring  to  abolish  slavery  in  the  District  of 
Columbia,  unless  it  would  be  upon  these  conditions :  first, 
that  the  abolition  should  be  gradual ;  second,  that  it  should  be 
on  a  vote  of  the  majority  of  qualified  voters  in  the  District ; 
and  third,  that  compensation  should  be  made  to  unwilling 
owners.  With  these  three  conditions,  I  confess  I  would  be 
exceedingly  glad  to  see  Congress  abolish  slavery  in  the  Dis- 
trict of  Columbia,  and,  in  the  language  of  Henry  Clay,  "  sweep 
from  our  Capital  that  foul  blot  upon  our  nation." 

In  regard  to  the  fifth  interrogatory,  I  must  say  here,  that  as 
to  the  question  of  the  abolition  of  the  slave-trade  between  the 
different  States,  I  can  truly  answer,  as  I  have,  that  I  am 
pledged  to  nothing  about  it.  It  is  a  subject  to  which  I  have 
not  given  that  mature  consideration  that  would  make  me  Teel 
authorized  to  state  a  position  so  as  to  hold  myself  entirely 
bound  by  it.  In  other  words,  that  question  has  never  been 
prominently  enough  before  me  to  induce  me  to  investigate 
whether  we  really  have  the  Constitutional  power  to  do  it.  I 
could  investigate  it  if  I  had  sufficient  time  to  bring  myself  to 
a  conclusion  upon  that  subject ;  but  I  have  not  done  so,  and 
I  say  so  frankly  to  you  here,  and  to  Judge  Douglas.  I  must 
say,  however,  that  if  I  should  be  of  opinion  that  Congress 
does  possess  the  Constitutional  power  to  abolish  slave- 
trading  among  the  different  States,  I  should  still  not  be  in 
favor  of  the  exercise  of  that  power  unless  upon  some  con- 
servative principle  as  I  conceive  it,  akin  to  what  I  have  said 


180  LIFE  OF  ABRAHAM   LINCOLN. 

in  relation  to  the  abolition  of  slavery  in  the  District  of 
Columbia.  • 

My  answer  as  to  whether  I  desire  that  slavery  should  be 
prohibited  in  all  Territories  of  the  United  States,  is  full  and 
explicit  within  itself,  and  can  not  be  made  clearer  by  any 
comments  of  mine.  So  I  suppose  in  regard  to  the  question 
whether  I  am  opposed  to  the  acquisition  of  any  more  territory 
unless  slavery  is  first  prohibited  therein,  my  answer  is  such  that 
I  could  add  nothing  by  way  of  illustration,  or  making  myself 
better  understood,  than  the  answer  which  I  have  placed  in 
writing. 

Now  in  all  this,  the  Judge  has  me,  and  he  has  me  on  the 
record.  I  suppose  he  had  flattered  himself  that  I  was  really 
entertaining  one  set  of  opinions  for  one  place  and  another  set 
for  another  place — thdt  I  was  afraid  to  say  at  one  place  what 
I  uttered  at  another.  What  I  am  saying  here  I  suppose  I  say 
to  a  vast  audience  as  strongly  tending  to  Abolitionism  as  any 
audience  in  the  State  of  Illinois,  and  I  believe  I  am  saying 
that  which,  if  it  would  be  offensive  to  any  persons  and  render 
them  enemies  to  myself,  would  be  offensive  to  persons  in  this 
audiem  V. 

At  Jonesboro,  in  the  lower  part  of  "  Egypt,"  where  their 
third  debate  was  held,  Douglas  reiterated  his  often-refuted 
charges  of  ultraism  against  Lincoln,  which  the  latter  just  as 
coolly  and  convincingly  disposed  of,  as  if  there  had  been  no 
unscrupulous  pertinacity  in  making  false  accusations  against 
him.  After  bringing  home  the  sin  of  reopening  agitation,  to 
the  door  of  Douglas,  he  proceeded  to  show  as  extravagant 
radicalism  in  the  recorded  professions  of  the  Democracy  as  of 
any  persons  acting  with  the  Republican  party.  He  then 
completely  riddled  the  "  unfriendly  legislation"  theory  of 
Douglas,  exhibiting  its  utter  inconsistency  with  fidelity  to  his 
Constitutional  oaths,  so  long  as  he  indorsed  the  validity  of  the 
political  dogmas  of  Judge  Taney,  in  his  Dred  Scott  opinion. 

In  the  fourth  debate,  at  Charleston,  the  attempts  of  Doug- 
las to  make  capital  out  of  the  Mexican  War  question  were 
appropriately  disposed  of.  Here,  also,  Douglas  was  convicted, 
on  conclusive  testimony,  of  having  stricken  out  of  the  Toombs' 
Kansas  Bill  a  clause  requiring  the  Constitution  that  should 
be  formed  under  its  provisions,  to  be  submitted  to  the  people. 


LIFE   OF   ABRAHAM    LINCOLN.  181 

This  had  an  important  bearing  on  one  objection  upon  which 
Douglas  based  his  Anti-Lecompton  rebellion. 

The  fifth  joint  discussion  was  held  at  Galesburg,  the  sixth 
at  Quincy,  and  the  last  at  Alton.  The  main  topics  and 
methods  of  these  debates,  as  of  the  rest,  did  not  substantially 
differ  from  those  of  the  speeches  at  Chicago  and  Springfield. 

The  Alton  debate  occurred  on  the  15th  of  October.  As 
the  day  of  the  election  (November  2d)  approached,  it  became 
more  and  more  evident  that  strong  efforts  were  making,  aided 
by  the  advice  of  Senator  Crittenden  on  the  one  hand,  and  of 
^ice  President  Breckinridge  on  the  other,  to  secure  a  diver- 
sion of  "  Conservative"  votes,  American,  Democratic,  and 
"Whig,  in  the  central  and  southern  part  of  the  State,  in  favor 
of  Douglas.  These  endeavors  succeeded  to  such  an  extent 
that,  with  the  immense  advantages  the  Douglas  party  had  in 
their  unequal  and  utterly  unfair  apportionment  of  Legislative 
Districts,  and  in  the  lucky  proportion  of  Democratic  Senators 
holding  over,  they  secured  a  small  majority  in  each  branch  of 
the  new  Legislature.  The  Senate  had  14  Democrats  and  11 
Republicans — the  House  40  Democrats  and  35  Republicans. 
The  popular  voice  was  for  Lincoln,  by  more  than  four  thousand 
majority  over  Douglas. 

Admiration  of  the  manly  bearing  and  gallant  conduct  of 
Mr.  Lincoln,  throughout  this  campaign,  which  had  early 
assumed  a  national  importance,  led  to  the  spontaneous  sug- 
gestion of  his  name,  in  various  parts  of  the  country,  as  a 
candidate  for  the  Presidency.  From  the  beginning  to  the 
end  of  the  contest,  he  had  proved  himself  an  able  statesman, 
an  effective  orator,  a  true  gentleman,  and  an  honest  man. 
While,  therefore,  Douglas  was  returned  to  the  Senate,  there 
was  a  general  presentiment,  that  a  juster  verdict  was  yet  to 
be  had,  and  that  Mr.  Lincoln  and  his  cause  would  be  ulti- 
mately vindicated  before  the  people.  That  time  was  to  come, 
even  sooner,  perhaps,  than  his  friends,  in  their  momentary 
despondency,  expected.  From  that  hour  to  the  present,  the 
fame  of  Abraham  Lincoln  has  been  enlarging  and  ripening, 
and  the  love  of  his  noble  character  has  become  more  and 
more  deeply  fixed  in  the  popular  heurt. 


182  LIFE   OP   ABRAHAM    LINCOLN. 


CHAPTER  XII. 

SPEECHES    OF   1859-'60. 

Mr.  Lincoln  in  Ohio. — His  Speech  at  Columbus. — Denial  of  the  Negro 
Suffrage  Charge.— Troubles  of  Douglas  with  His  "Great  Princi- 
ple."— Territories  Not  States.— Doctrines  of  the  Fathers.— His  Cin- 
cinnati Speech. — "Shooting  Over  the  Line."— What  the  Republicans 
Mean  to  Do. — Plain  Questions  to  the  Democracy.— The  People  Above 
Courts  and  Congress. — Uniting  the  Opposition. — Eastern  Tour. — 
The  Cooper  Institute  Speech. — Mr.  Bryant's  Introduction. — What 
the  Fathers  Held. — What  Will  Satisfy  the  Southern  Democracy?— 
Counsels  to  the  Republicans. — Mr.  Lincoln  Among  the  Children. 

DURING  the  year  following  his  great  contest  with  Douglas, 
which  had  resulted  in  a  barren  triumph  through  the  injustice 
of  the  previous  Democratic  Legislature  in  refusing  a  fair  and 
equal  apportionment,  Mr.  Lincoln  again  gave  himself  almost 
exclusively  to  professional  labors.  During  the  autumn  cam- 
paign of  1859,  however,  when  Douglas  visited  Ohio,  and 
endeavored  to  turn  the  tide  of  battle  in  favor  of  the  Democ- 
racy in  that  State,  so  as  to  secure  the  re-election  of  Mr.  Pugh, 
and  to  gain  other  partizan  benefits,  an  earnest  invitation  was 
sent  to  Lincoln  to  assist  the  Republicans  in  their  canvass.  Ho 
complied,  and  delivered  two  most  effective  speeches  in  Ohio, 
one  at  Columbus,  and  the  other  at  Cincinnati. 

In  his  speech  at  the  former  place  (September  16,  1859),  he 
began  by  noticing  a  statement  which  he  read  from  the  central 
Democratic  organ,  averring  that  in  the  canvass  of  the  previous 
year  with  Douglas,  "  Mr.  Lincoln  declared  in  favor  of  negro 
suffrage."  This  charge  he  quickly  disposed  of,  showing  by 
quotations  from  his  printed  speeches  of  that  canvass,  that  he 


LIFE   OP   ABRAHAM    LINCOLN.  183 

distinctly   and   repeatedly   declared   himself   opposed   to   the 
policy  thus  attributed»to  him. 

Mr.  Lincoln  then  noticed  the  recent  Columbus  speech  of 
Mr.  Douglas,  in  which  he  "  dealt  exclusively  "  in  the  "  negro 
topics "  of  discussion.  Mr.  L.  spoke  at  some  length  on 
these  issues,  and  thoroughly  exposed  the  distinctions  between 
genuine  popular  sovereignty,  and  the  spurious  sort  which 
Douglas  and  his  friends  pass  off  f&r  the  reality.  He  then  went 
on  to  notice  the  great  amount  of  trouble  which  Mr.  Douglas 
has  had  with  his  spurious  popular  sovereignty,  and  to  illustrate 
how  "  his  explanations  explanatory  of  explanations  explained 
are  interminable."  The  Harper's  Magazine  essay  was  dis- 
sected, and  left  without  any  logical  vitality  or  cohesion. 
Two  or  three  brief  points  in  the  remainder  of  this  speech  are 
subjoined  : 

STATES   AND   TERRITORIES. 

There  is  another  little  difficulty  about  this  matter  of  treat- 
ing the  Territories  and  States  alike  in  all  things,  to  which  I 
ask  your  attention,  and  I  shall  leave  this  branch  of  the  case. 
If  there  is  no  difference  between  them,  why  not   make   the 
Territories  States  at  once  ?     What  is  the  reason  that  Kansas 
was- not  fit  to  come  into  the  Union  when  it  was  organized  into 
a  Territory,  in  Judge  Douglas's  view?     Can  any  of  you  tell 
any  reason  why  it  should  not  have  come  into  the  Union  at 
once?     They  are  fit,  as  he  thinks,  to  decide  upon  the  slavery 
question — the  largest  and   most   important  with  which  they 
could  possibly  deal — what  could  they  do  by  coming  into  the 
Union  that  they  are  not  fit  to  do,  according  to  his  view,  by 
staying  out  of  it?     Oh,  they  are  not  fit  to  sit  in  Congress  and 
decide  upon  the  rates  of  postage,  or  questions  of  ad  valorem 
»j   or  specific  duties  on  foreign  goods,  or  live  oak  timber  con- 
I   tracts.    [Laughter.]     They  are  not  fit  to  decide  these  vastly 
ii   important  matters,  which  are  national  in  their  import,  but  they 
I   are   fit,  "from  the  jump,"  to  decide  this  little  negro  question. 
;!    But,  gentlemen,  the  case  is  too  plain  ;  I  occupy  too  much  time 
•!    on  this  head,  and  I  pass  on. 

•>•;••'    v''ltV*f ^'ii;J   ;-''A**J'    ;^  "ii 
STAND   BY   THE   DOCTRINES   OF   THE   FATHERS. 

I  see  in  the  Judge's  speech  here  a  short  sentence  in  these 

I   words:  "Our    fathers,    when    they   formed  this   Government 

under  which  we  live,  understood  this  question  just  as  well,  and 


131  LIFE   OF   ABRAHAM    LINCOLN. 

even  better  than  we  do  now."  That  is  true.  I  stick  to  that. 
[Great  cheers  and  laughter.]  I  will  starjd  by  Judge  Douglas 
in  thatiio  the  bitter  end.  [Renewed  laughter.]  And  now, 
Judge  Douglas,  come  and  stand  by  me,  and  faithfully  show 
how  they  acted,  understanding  it  better  than  we  do.  All  I 
ask  of  you,  Judge  Douglas,  is  to  stick  to  the  proposition  that 
the  men  of  the  Revolution  understood  this  subject  better  than 
we  do  now,  and  with  that  better  understanding  they  acted  better 
than  you  are  trying^to  act  now.  [Applause.] 

At  Cincinnati,  on  the  17th  of  September,  Mr.  Lincoln 
addressed  an  immense  audience  on  the  same  general  political 
topics,  and  in  his  ablest  manner.  He  did  not  repeat  or 
merely  play  variations  upon  his  Columbus  speech,  but  adopted 
new  modes  of  illustrating  and  enforcing  his  views.  He  was 
listened  to  with  an  interest  rarely  excited  by  any  orator  who 
ever  spoke  in  this  city,  even  in  the  most  exciting  campaign. 
No  extracts  can  give  a  true  idea  of  its  ability  and  power  as  a 
whole.  Alluding  to  Douglas's  perversions  of  his  views,  and  to 
the  charge  of  wishing  to  disturb  slavery  in  the  States  by 
"  shooting  over  "  the  line,  Mr.  Lincoln  said  : 

SHOOTING   OVER   THE   LINE. 

It  has  occurred  to  me  hero  to-night,  that  if  I  ever  do  shoot 
over  at  the  people  on  the  other  side  of  the  line  in  a  slave 
State,  and  purpose  to  do  so,  keeping  my  skin  safe,  that  I  have 
now  about  the  best  chance  I  shall  ever  have.  [Laughter  and 
applause.]  I  should  not  wonder  if  there  are  some  Kentuck- 
ians  about  this  audience  ;  we  are  close  to  Kentucky ;  and 
whether  that  be  so  or  not,  we  are  on  elevated  ground,  and  by 
speaking  distinctly,  I  should  not  wonder  if  some  of  the  Ken- 
tuckians  should  hear  me  on  the  other  side  of  the  river. 
[Laughter.]  For  that  reason  I  propose  to  address  a  portion 
of  what  I  have  to  say  to  the  Kentuckians. 

I  say,  then,  in  the  first  place,  to  the  Kentuckians,  that  1 
am  what  they  call,  as  I  understand  it,  a  "  Black  Republican." 
[Applause  and  Laughter.]  I  think  that  slavery  is  wrong, 
morally,  socially  and  politically.  I  desire  that  it  should  be  no 
further  spread,  in  these  United  States,  and  I  should  not  object 
if  it  should  gradually  terminate  in  the  whole  Union.  [Ap- 
plause.] While  I  say  this  for  myself,  I  say  to  you,  Ken- 
tuckians, that  I  understand  that  you  differ  radically  with  me 
upon  this  proposition  ;  that  you  believe  slavery  is  a  good 
thing ;  that  slavery  is  right ;  that  it  ought  to  be  extended  and 


LIFE   OF   ABRAHAM    LINCOLN.  185 

perpetuated  in  this  Union.  Now,  there  being  this  broad  dif- 
ference between  us,  I  do  not  pretend  in  addressing  myself  to 
you,  Kentuckians,  to  attempt  proselyting  you  at  all ;  that 
would  be  a  vain  effort.  I  do  not  enter  upon  it.  I  only  pro- 
pose to  try  to  show  you  that  you  ought  to  nominate  for  the 
next  Presidency,  at  Charleston,  my  distinguished  friend, 
Judge  Douglas.  [Applause.]  In  whatever  there  is  a  differ- 
ence between  you  and  him,  I  understand  he  is  as  sincerely  for 
you,  and  more  wisely  for  you,  than  you  are  for  yourselves. 
[Applause.]  I  will  try  to  demonstrate  that  proposition. 
Understand  now,  I  say  that  I  believe  he  is  as  sincerely  for 
you,  and  more  wisely  for  you,  than  you  are  for  yourselves. 

Mr.  Lincoln  then  went  on  to  show  that  Douglas  is  con- 
stantly endeavoring  to  "  mold  the  public  opinion  of  the 
North  to  the  ends"  desired  by  the  South  ;  that  he  only  differs 
from  the  South  in  so  far  as  is  necessary  to  retain  any  hold 
upon  his  own  section  ;  that  not  daring  to  maintain  that 
slavery  is  right,  he  professes  an  indifference  whether  it  is 
"voted  up  or  voted  down" — thus  indirectly  advancing  the 
opinion  that  it  ia  not  wrong ;  and  that  he  has  taken  a  step  in 
advance,  by  doing  what  would  not  have  been  thought  of  by 
any  man  five  years  ago,  to-wit : — denying  that  the  Declaration 
of  Independence  asserts  any  principle  intended  to  be  applica- 
ble to  black  men,  or  that  properly  includes  them.  The  tend- 
ency of  this  charge  "  is  to  bring  the  public  mind  to  the 
conclusion  that  when  men  are  spoken  of,  the  negro  is  not 
meant ;  that  when  negroes  are  spoken  of,  brutes  alone  are 
contemplated." 

Of  the  certainty  of  a  speedy  Republican  triumph  in  the 
nation,  and  of  its  results,  Mr.  Lincoln  said : 

WHAT   THE   OPPOSITION   MEAN    TO   DO. 

I  will  tell  you,  so  far  as  I  am  authorized  to  speak  for  the 
Opposition,  what  we  mean  to  do  with  you.  We  mean  to  treat 
you,  as  nearly  as  we  possibly  can,  as  "Washington,  Jefferson, 
and  Madison  treated  you.  [Cheers.]  We  mean  to  leave  you 
alone,  and  in  no  way  to  interfere  with  your  institution;  to 
abide  by  all  and  every  compromise  of  the  Constitution,  and, 
in  a  word,  coming  back  to  the  original  proposition,  to  treat 
you,  so  far  as  degenerated  men  (if  we  have  degenerated) 
may,  imitating  the  examples  of  those  noble  fathers — Wash- 


186  LIFE    OP   ABRAHAM     LINCOLN. 

ington,  Jefferson  and  Madison.  [Applause;]  We  mean  to 
remember  that  you  are  as  good  as  we;  that  there  is  no  differ- 
ence between  us  other  than  the  difference  of  circumstances. 
We  mean  to  recognise  and  bear  in  mind  always  that  you  have 
as  good  hearts  in  your  bosoms  as  other  people,  or  as  we  claim 
to  have,  and  treat  you  accordingly.  We  mean  to  marry  your 
girls  when  we  have  a  chance — the  white  ones  I  mean — [laugh- 
ter] and  I  have  the  honor  to  inform  you  that  I  once  did  get  a 
chance  in  that  way.  [A  voice,  "  Good  for  you,"  and  applause.] 

PLAIN  QUESTIONS  TO  THE  DISUNION   DEMOCRACY. 

I  have  told  you  what  we  mean  to  do.  I  want  to  know,  now. 
•when  that  thing  takes  place,  what  you  mean  to  do.  I  often 
hear  it  intimated  that  you  mean  to  divide  the  Union  whenever 
a  Kepublican,  or  anything  like  it.  is  elected  President  of  the 
United  States.  [A  voice,  "  That  is  so."]  "  That  is  so,"  one 
of  them  says.  I  wonder  if  he  is  a  Kentuckian  ?  [A  voice. 
"He  is  a  Douglas  man."]  Well,  then,  I  want  to  know  what 
you  are  going  to  do  with  your  half  of  it?  [Applause  and 
laughter.]  Are  you  going  to  split  the  Ohio  down  through, 
and  push  your  half  off  a  piece?  Or  are  you  going  to  keep 
it  right  alongside  of  us  outrageous  fellows?  Or  are  you 
going  to  build  up  a  wall  someway  between  your  country  and 
ours,  by  which  that  movable  property  of  yours  can't  c»me 
over  here  any  more,  and  you  lose  it?  Do  you  think  you  can 
better  yourselves  on  that  subject,  by  leaving  us  here  under  no 
obligation  whatever  to  return  those  specimens  of  your  mov- 
able property  that  come  hither  ?  You  have  divided  the  Union 
because  we  would  not  do  right  with  you,  as  you  think,  upon 
that  subject;  when  we  cease  to  be  under  obligations  to  do 
anything  for  you,  how  much  better  off  do  you  think  you  will 
be  ?  Will  you  make  war  upon  us  and  kill  us  all  ?  Why, 
gentlemen,  I  think  you  are  as  gallant  and  as  brave  men  as 
live ;  that  you  can  fight  as  bravely  in  a  good  cause,  man  for 
man,  as  any  other  people  living ;  that  you  have  shown  your- 
selves capable  of  this  upon  various  occasions ;  but,  man  for 
man,  you  are  not  better  than  we  are,  and  there  are  not  so 
many  of  you  as  there  are  of  us.  [Loud  cheering.]  You 
•will  never  make  much  of  a  hand  at  whipping  us.  If  we  were 
f<  wer  in  numbers  than  you,  I  think  that  you  could  whip  us ; 
if  we  were  equal  it  would  likely  be  a  drawn  battle  ;  but  being 
inferior  in  numbers,  you  will  make  nothing  by  attempting  to 
master  us. 

WHAT   REPUBLICANS    MUST   DO. 

I  say  that  we  must  not  interfere  with  the  institution  of 
Slavery  in  the  States  where  it,  exists,  because  the  Constitution 


LIFE  OP  ABRAHAM   LINCOLN.  187 

forbids  it,  and  the  general  welfare  does  not  require  us  to  do 
BO.  We  must  not  withhold  an  efficient  fugitive  slave  law, 
because  the  Constitution  requires  us,  as  I  understand  it,  not 
to  withhold  such  a  law,  but  we  must  prevent  the  outspreading 
of  the  institution,  because  neither  the  Constitution  nor  the 
general  welfare  requires  us  to  extend  it.  We  must  prevent 
the  revival  of  the  African  slave-trade  and  the  enacting  by 
Congress  of  a  Territorial  slave-code.  We  must  prevent  each 
of  these  things  being  done  by  either  Congresses  or  Courts. 

THE  PEOPLE  OF  THESE  UNITED  STATES  ARE  THE  RIGHTFUL 
MASTERS  OF  BOTH  CONGRESSES  AND  COURTS  [applause],  not 

to  overthrow  the  Constitution,  but  to  overthrow  the  men  who 
pervert  that  Constitution.  [Applause.] 

After  expressing  an  earnest  desire  "  that  all  the  elements 
of  the  Opposition  should  unite  in  the  next  Presidential 
election  and  in  all  future  time,"  on  a  right  and  just  basis ; 
and  after  saying,  "  There  are  plenty  of  men  in  the  slave 
States  that  are  altogether  good  enough  for  me  to  be  either 
President  or  Vice  President,  provided  they  will  profess 
sympathy  with  our  purpose  in  the  election,  and  will  place 
themselves  upon  such  ground  that  our  men,  upon  principle,  can 
vote  for  them,"  Mr.  Lincoln  brought  his  remarks  to  a  close. 

In  the  spring  of  1860,  Mr.  Lincoln  yielded  to  the  calls  which 
came  to  him  from  the  East  for  his  presence  and  aid  in  the 
exciting  political  canvasses  there  going  on.  He  spoke  at 
various  places  in  Connecticut,  New  Hampshire,  and  Rhode 
Island,  and  also  in  New  York  city,  to  very  large  audiences, 
and  was  everywhere  warmly  welcomed.  Perhaps  one  of  the 
greatest  speeches  of  his  life,  was  that  delivered  by  him  at  the 
Cooper  Institute,  in  New  York,  on  the  27th  of  February,  1860. 
A  crowded  audience  was  present,  which  received  Mr.  Lincoln 
with  enthusiastic  demonstrations.  William  Cullen  Bryant 
presided,  and  introduced  the  speaker  in  terms  of  high  compli- 
ment to  the  West,  and  to  the  "  eminent  citizen  "  of  that  sec- 
tion, whose  political  labors  in  1856  and  '58  were  appropriately 
eulogized. 

THE  COOPEK  INSTITUTE  SPEECH. 

Mr.  Lincoln  then  proceeded  to  address  his  auditors  in  an 
extended  and  closely-reasoned  argument,  proving  in  the  most 
convincing  manner,  that  the  Republican  party  stands  where 


188  LIFE   OP   ABRAHAM    LINCOLN. 

"  the  Fathers  "  stood  on  the  slavery  question,  and  eloquently 
enforcing  the  sentiment  expressed  by  Mr.  Douglas  in  his 
Columbus  speech,  of  the  previous  autumn,  namely :  "  Our 
fathers,  when  they  framed  the  Government  under  which  we  live, 
understood  this  question  just  as  well,  and  even  better,  than  we 
do  now."  The  argument  and  its  illustrations  were  masterly ; 
the  logic  unanswerable.  A  few  paragraphs  of  his  concluding 
remarks  are  all  that  can  be  given  here  : 

WHAT  WILL  SATISFY  THE    SOUTHERN    DEMOCRACY  ? 

A  few  words  now  to  Republicans.  It  is  exceedingly  desira- 
ble that  all  parts  of  this  great  Confederacy  shall  be  at  peace, 
and  in  harmony  one  with  another.  Let  us  Republicans  do 
our  part  to  have  it  so.  Even  though  much  provoked,  let  us  do 
nothing  through  passion  and  ill  temper.  Even  though  the 
Southern  people  will  not  so  much  as  listen  to  us,  let  us  calmly 
consider  their  demands,  and  yield  to  them,  if,  in  our  deliberate 
view  of  our  duty,  we  possibly  can.  Judging  by  all  they  say 
and  do,  and  by  the  subject  and  nature  of  their  controversy 
with  us,  let  us  determine,  if  we  can,  what  will  satisfy  them. 

"Will  they  be  satisfied  if  the  Territories  be  unconditionally 
surrendered  to  them  ?  We  know  they  will  not.  In  all  their 
present  complaints  against  us,  the  Territories  are  scarcely  men- 
tioned. Invasions  and  insurrections  are  the  rage  now.  Will 
it  satisfy  them  if,  in  the  future,  we  have  nothing  to  do  with 
invasions  and  insurrections?  We  know  it  will  not.  We  so 
know,  because  we  know  we  never  had  anything  to  do  with 
invasions  and  insurrections  ;  and  yet  this  total  abstaining  does 
not  exempt  us  from  the  charge  and  the  denunciation. 

The  question  recurs,  What  will  satisfy  them  ?  Simply  this 
We  must  not  only  let  them  alone,  but  we  must,  somehow,  con- 
vince them  that  we  do  let  them  alone.  This,  we  know  by 
experience,  is  no  easy  task.  We  have  been  so  trying  to  con- 
vince them,  from  the  very  beginning  of  our  organization,  but 
with  no  success.  In  all  our  platforms  and  speeches,  we  have 
constantly  protested  our  purpose  to  let  them  alone ;  but  this 
has  had  no  tendency  to  convince  them.  Alike  unavailing  to 
convince  them  is  the  fact,  that  they  have  never  detected  a  man 
of  us  in  any  attempt  to  disturb  them. 

These  natural  and  apparently  adequate  means  all  failing, 
•what  will  convince  them  ?  This,  and  this  only  :  cease  to  call 
slavery  icrony,  and  join  them  in  calling  it  right.  All  this  must 
be  done  thoroughly — done  in  acts  as  well  as  in  words.  *  * 

If  our  sense  of  duty  forbids  this,  then  let  us  stand  by  oui 
duty,  fearlessly  and  effectively.  Let  us  be  diverted  by  none  of 


LIFE   OP   ABRAHAM   LINCOLN.  189 

those  sophistical  contrivances  wherewith  we  are  so  industri- 
ously plied  and  belabored — contrivances  such  as  groping  for 
some  middle  ground  between  the  right  and  the  wrong,  vain  as 
the  search  for  a  man  who  should  be  neither  a  living  man  nor 
a  dead  man — such  as  a  policy  of  "  don't  care  "  on  a  question 
about  which  all  true  men  do  care — such  as  Union  appeals, 
beseeching  true  Union  men  to  yield  to  Disunionists.  reversing 
the  Divine  rule,  and  calling,  not  the  sinners,  but  the  righteous 
to  repentance — such  as  invocations  of  Washington,  imploring 
men  to  unsay  what  Washington  said,  and  undo  wh'at  Washing- 
ton did.  Neither  let  us  be  slandered  from  our  duty  by  false 
accusations  against  us,  nor  frightened  from  it  by  menaces  of 
destruction  to  the  Government,  nor  of  dungeons  to  ourselves. 
Let  us  have  faith  that  rurlit  makes  ruiglit;  and  in  that  faith, 
]ct  us,  to  the  end,  dare  to  do  our  duty,  as 'we  understand  it. 

This  is  the  last  of  the  great  speeches  of  Mr.  Lincoln,  of 
which  there  is  any  complete  report.  It  forms  a  brilliant  close 
to  this  period  of  his  life,  and  a  fitting  prelude  to  that  on  which 
he  is  believed  to  be  about  to  enter. 

It  was  during  this  visit  to  New  York  that  the  following  inci- 
dent occurred,  as  related  by  a  teacher  in  the  Five -Points  House 
of  Industry,  in  that  city  : 

Our  Sunday-school  in  the  Five  Points  was  assembled,  one 
Sabbath  morning,  a  few  months  since,  when  I  noticed  a  tall, 
and  remarkable-looking  man  enter  the  room  and  take  a  seat 
among  us.  He  listened  with  fixed  attention  to  our  exercises, 
and  his  countenance  manifested  such  genuine  interest,  that  I 
approached  him  and  suggested  that  he  might  be  willing  to  say 
something  to  the  children.  He  accepted  the  invitation  with 
evident  pleasure,  and  coming  forward  began  a  simple  address, 
which  nt  once  fascinated  every  little  hearer,  and  hushed  the 
room  into  silence.  His  language  was  strikingly  beautiful,  and 
his  tones  musical  with  intensest  feeling.  The  little  faces 
around  would  droop  into  sad  conviction  as  he  uttered  sentences 
of  warning,  and  would  brighten  into  sunshine  as  he  spoke 
cheerful  words  of  promise.  Once  or  twice  he  attempted  to 
close  his  remarks,  but  the  imperative  shout  of  "  Go  on  !  "  "  Oh, 
do  go  on  1  "  would  compel  him  to  resume.  As  I  looked  upon 
the  gaunt  and  sinewy  frame  of  the  stranger,  and  marked  his 
powerful  head  and  determined  features,  now  touched  into  soft- 
ness by  the  impressions  of  the  moment,  I  fe.t  an  irrepressible 
curiosity  to  learn  something  more  about  him,  and  when  he  was 
quietly  leaving  the  room,  I  begged  to  know  his  name.  He 
courteously  replied,  "  It  is  Abra'm  Lincoln,  from  Illinois  1 " 


LIFE  OP  ABRAHAM   LINCOLN. 


CHAPTER  XIII. 

ME.  LINCOLN'S  NOMINATION  FOR  THE  PRESIDENCY 


The  Republican  National  Convention  at  Chicago. — The  Charleston  Ex- 
plosion.— "Constitutional  Union"  Nominations. — Distinguished  Can- 
didates among  the  Republicans. — The  Platform. — The  Ballotings. — 
Mr.  Lincoln  Nominated.  —  Unparalleled  Enthusiasm. — The  Ticket 
Completed  with  the  name  of  Senator  Hatnlin. — Its  Reception  by  the 
Country. — Mr.  Lincoln's  Letter  of  Acceptance. 

THE  doings  of  the  Republican  National  Convention,  which 
met  at  Chicago  on  the  16th  of  May,  1860,  are  too  fresh  in 
public  recollection  to  be  recapitulated  or  dwelt  upon  here. 
At  the  date  of  its  assembling,  the  great  quadrennial  conven- 
tion of  the  Democratic  party  had  been  held  at  Charleston,  and, 
after  nearly  two  weeks'  session,  had  adjourned  without  any 
agreement  upon  either  platform  or  candidates.  Douglas,  with 
his  Freeport  record,  which  had  become  necessary  in  order 
to  accomplish  his  temporary  purpose,  had  proved  an  irrecon- 
cilably disturbing  element  in  that  convention.  The  nomina- 
tion of  Douglas  by  a  united  Democracy  had  been  demonstrated 
to  be  impossible,  and  the  only  alternative  of  his  withdrawal 
or  an  incurable  disruption  was  presented.  Subsequently,  a 
"Constitutional  Union"  Convention  had  assembled  at  Balti- 
more and  nominated  a  Presidential  ticket,  with  no  other 
definitely  avowed  object  than  that  professed  in  common  by  all 
citizens,  everywhere,  of  supporting  the  Constitution  and  the 
Union.  All  eyes  were  now  turned  toward  Chicago,  as  the 
point  at  which  the  problem  of  the  next  Presidency  was  to  be 
definitely  solved. 

Before  the  Republican  National  Convention  met,  the  names 


LIFE  OF  ABRAHAM   LINCOLN,  191 

of  many  distinguished  statesmen  had  been  proposed  for  the 
first  place  on  the  Presidential  ticket,  and  their  merits  and 
availability  had  been  extensively  discussed.  In  this  prelimi- 
nary canvassing  there  had  been  no  bitterness  or  unseemly 
personalities.  There  was  a  general  indication  of  harmony  iu 
ultimate  action,  and  of  unbroken  union  upon  whatever  ticket 
should  be  selected. 

The  first  day  of  the  convention  was  spent  in  organizing,  and 
on  the  second  day  the  committee,  selected  for  that  purpose, 
reported  a  platform  of  principles  which  was  unanimously 
adopted,  and  has  been  strongly  approved  by  the  people. 

On  the  morning  of  the  18th,  amid  the  most  intense  though 
subdued  excitement  of  the  twelve  thousand  people  inside  of 
the  "  Wigwam''  in  which  the  convention  was  held,  and  amid 
the  anxious  solicitude  and  suspense  of  the  still  greater  num- 
bers outside  who  could  not  gain  admission,  it  was  voted  to 
proceed  at  once  to  ballot  for  a  candidate  for  President  of  the 
United  States.  Seven  names  were  formally  presented  in  the 
following  order : 

WILLIAM  H.  SEWARD,  of  New  York ;  ABRAHAM  LINCOLN, 
of  Illinois;  WILLIAM  L.  DAYTON,  of  New  Jersey;  SIMON 
CAMERON,  of  Pennsylvania;  SALMON  P.  CHASE,  of  Ohio; 
EDWARD  BATES,  of  Missouri ;  and  JOHN  HcLsAN,  of  Ohio. 

Loud  and  long-continued  applause  greeted  the  first  two  of 
these  names,  in  particular,  between  which  it  was  soon  appa- 
rent that  the  chief  contest  was  to  be. 

On  the  first  ballot  Mr.  Seward  received  173  votes,  Mr.  Lin- 
coln 102,  Mr.  Cameron  50,  Mr.  Chase  49,  Mr.  Bates  48,  Mr. 
Dayton  14,  Mr.  McLean  12,  and  there  were  16  votes  scattered 
among  candidates  not  put  in  nomination.  For  a  choice,  233 
votes  were  required. 

On  the  second  ballot  (Mr.  Cameron's  name  iaving  been 
withdrawn)  the  vote  for  the  several  candidates  was  as  follows : 
Mr.  Seward*  184,  Mr.  Lincoln  181,  Mr.  Chase  42,  Mr.  Bates 
35,  Mr.  Dayton  10,  Mr.  McLean  8,  scattering  4. 

The  third  ballot  was  immediately  taken,  and,  when  the  call 
of  the  roll  was  ended,  the  footings  were  as  follows  :  For  Mr. 
Lincoln  231,  Mr.  Seward  180,  Mr.  Chase  24,  Mr.  Bates  22, 


192  LIPB  OP   ABRAHAM    LINCOLN. 

all  others  7.  Immediately,  before  the  result  was  announced, 
four  Ohio  delegates  changed  their  votes  to  Mr.  Lincoln,  giving 
him  a  majority. 

The  scene  which  followed  —  the  wild  manifestations  of 
approval  and  delight,  within  and  without  the  hall,  prolonged 
uninterruptedly  for  twenty  minutes,  and  renewed  again  and 
again  for  a  half-hour  longer — no  words  can  describe.  Never 
before  was  there  a  popular  assembly  of  any  sort,  probably,  so 
stirred  with  a  contagious  and  all-pervading  enthusiasm.  The 
nomination  was  made  unanimous,  on  motion  of  Mr.  Everts,  of 
New  York,  who  had  presented  the  name  of  Mr.  Seward,  and 
speedily,  on  the  wings  of  lightning,  the  news  of  the  great 
event  was  spread  to  all  parts  of  the  land.  Subsequently,  with 
like  heartiness  and  unanimity,  the  ticket  was  completed  by 
the  nomination,  on  the  second  ballot,  of  Senator  HANNIBAL 
HAMLIN,  of  Maine,  for  Vice-President. 

These  demonstrations  at  Chicago  were  but  ;  representation 
of  the  common  sentiments  of  the  masses  of  the  Republican 
party,  and  of  thousands  among  the  people,  not  before  included 
in  its  ranks,  in  the  country  at  large.  From  that  day  to  the 
present,  the  wisdom  of  the  nomination  of  Abraham  Lincoln 
for  the  highest  place  in  the  American  Government  has  been 
more  and  more  confirmed.  As  a  man  of  the  people,  in  cordial 
sympathy  with  the  masses,  he  has  the  undoubting  confidence 
of  the  sincere  friends  of  free  labor,  regardless  of  party  distinc- 
tions. As  a  man  of  sterling  integrity  and  incorruptible  hon- 
esty, he  is  felt  to  be  a  suitable  agent  for  upholding  the  Federal 
Government  in  its  present  days  of  trial.  As  a  man  of  sur- 
passing ability,  and  of  sound  principles,  after  the  earliest  and 
best  standards  in  our  political  history,  his  election  has  given 
to  the  country  an  administration  creditable  to  our  Republi- 
can polity,  and  it  will  result  in  the  complete  removal  of  the 
great  disquieting  element  in  our  National  affairs,  which  has 
caused  a  gigantic  civil  war. 

The  brief  letter  of  Mr.  Lincoln,  in  acceptance  of  the  Presi- 
dential nomination,  is  subjoined : 


LIFE   OF   ABRAHAM   LINCOLN.  193 

SPRINGFIELD,  ILL.,  May  23,  1860. 
HON.  GEO.  ASHMUN,    . 

President  of  the  Republican  National  Convention: 
SIR: — I  accept  the  nomination  tendered  me  by  the  conven- 
tion over  which  you  presided,  and  of  which  I  am  formally 
apprised  in  the  letter  of  yourself  and  others,  acting  as  a  com- 
mittee of  the  convention  for  that  purpose. 

The  declaration  of  principles  and  sentiments,  which  accom- 
panies your  letter,  meets  my  approval ;  and  it  shall  be  my 
care  not  to  violate,  nor  disregard  it,  in  any  part. 

Imploring  the  assistance  of  Divine  Providence,  and  with 
due  regard  to  the  views  and  feelings  of  all  who  were  repre- 
sented in  the  convention  ;  to  the  rights  of  all  the  States,  and 
Territories,  and  the  people  of  the  nation  ;  to  the  inviolability 
of  the  Constitution,  and  to  the  perpetual  union,  harmony  and 
prosperity  of  all,  I  am  most  happy  to  co-operate  for  the  prac- 
tical success  of  the  principles  declared  by  the  convention. 
Your  obliged  friend  and  fellow-citizen, 

ABRAHAM  LINCOLN. 

The  popular  favor  with  which  the  nomination  of  Mr.  Lincoln 
was  first  received  was  strengthened  by  the  spirited  canvass 
which  followed.  The  electoral  votes  of  the  States  of  Maine, 
New  Hampshire,  Vermont,  Massachusetts,  Rhode  Island,  Con- 
necticut, New  York,  Pennsylvania,  Ohio,  Indiana,  Illinois, 
Michigan,  Iowa,  Wisconsin,  Minnesota,  California  and  Oregon, 
seventeen  Sta-tes,  were  cast  for  Lincoln  and  Hamlin.  The 
votes  of  Maryland,  Delaware,  North  Carolina,  South  Carolina, 
Georgia,  Florida,  Alabama,  Louisiana,  Mississippi,  Arkansas 
and  Texas,  eleven  States,  were  cast  for  Breckinridge  and  Lane. 
The  votes  of  Virginia,  Kentucky  and  Tennessee  were  cast  for 
Bell  and  Everett.  The  electoral  vote  of  Missouri  was  given 
for  Douglas  and  Johnson.  The  vote  of  New  Jersey  was 
divided,  four  being  given  for  Lincoln  and  three  for  Douglas. 

The  aggregate  electoral  vote  for  each  Presidential  candidate, 
as  found  by  the  official  canvass  in  joint  session  of  the  two 
Houses  of  Congress,  on  the  13th  day  of  February,  1861,  was 
as  follows:  For  Abraham  Lincoln,  180;  for  John  C.  Breck- 
inridge, 72 ;  for  John  Bell,  39 ;  and  for  Stephen  A.  Douglas, 
17 


194  LIFE   OP   ABRAHAM    LINCOLN. 

12.  The  Yicc  President,  Mr.  Breckinridge,  then  officially 
declared  Mr.  Lincoln  elected  President  of  the  United  States 
for  four  years,  commencing  on  the  4th  of  March,  1801. 

The  aggregate  popular  vote  for  each  of  the  Presidential  can- 
didates, at  this  election,  was  as  follows :  For  Mr.  Lincoln, 
1,866,452;  for  Mr.  Douglas,  1,375,157;  for  Mr.  Breckinridge, 
847,953 ;  and  for  Mr.  Bell,  590,631.  The  last  speech  of  Mr. 
Douglas,  in  the  ensuing  spring,  urged  upon  his  friends  an 
earnest  support  of  the  administration  in  putting  down  the 
rebellion,  as  in  his  speech  at  Norfolk,  Va.,  during  the  preced- 
ing canvass,  he  had  declared  in  favor  of  coercion  as  the  remedy 
for  secession.  Mr.  Bell  went  over  to  the  secession  cause, 
co-operating  with  Mr.  Breckinridge,  now  a  General  in  the 
Kehel  army.  The  total  vote  for  the  two  loyal  candidates  was 
3,241,609. 

On  the  morning  of  February  llth,  Mr.  Lincoln,  with  his 
family,  left  Springfield  for  Washington.  A  large  concourse  of 
citizens  had  assembled  at  the  depot,  on  the  occasion  of  his 
departure,  whom,  with  deep  emotion,  he  addressed  as  follows  : 

MY  FRIENDS  :  No  one,  not  in  my  position,  can  appreciate 
the  sadness  I  feel  at  this  parting.  To  this  people  I  owe  all  that 
I  am.  Here  I  have  lived  more  than  a  quarter  of  a  century ; 
here  my  children  were  born,  and  here  one  of  them  lies  buried. 
I  know  not  how  soon  I  shall  see  you  again.  A  duty  devolves 
upon  me  which  is,  perhaps,  greater  than  that  which  has 
devolved  upon  any  other  man  since  the  days  of  Washington. 
He  never  could  have  succeeded  except  for  the  aid  of  Divine 
Providence,  upon  which  he  at  all  times  relied.  I  feel  that  I 
can  not  succeed  without  the  same  Divine  aid  which  sustained 
him;  and  in  the  same  Almighty  being  I  place  my  reliance  for 
support,  and  I  hope  you,  my  friends,  will  all  pray  that  I  may  , 
receive  that  Divine  assistance,  without  which  I  can  not  succeed, 
but  with  which  success  is  certain.  Again,  I  bid  you  all  an 
affectionate  farewell. 

;    *    ,'.,, 

The  first  speech  of  Mr.  Lincoln  on  his  journey  was  that 
delivered  at  Indianapolis,  on  the  evening  of  the  same  day, 
addressed  to  a  multitude  of  people  assembled  to  welcome  him. 
As  containing  the  earliest  direct  intimation  of  his  views  on  the 
all-engrossing  topic  of  the  time,  it  is  appropriately  given  here  : 


LIFE  OP  ABRAHAM  LINCOLN.  195 

FELLOW  CITIZENS  OP  THE  STATE  OF  INDIANA  :  I  am  here 
to  thank  you  for  this  magnificent  welcome,  and  still  more  for 
the  very  generous  support  given  by  your  State  to  that  political 
cause,  which,  I  think,  is  the  true  and  just  cause  of  the  whole 
country,  and  the  whole  world.  Solomon  says,  "  there  is  a  time 
to  keep  silence  ;  "  and  when  men  wrangle  by  the  mouth,  with 
no  certainty  that  they  mean  the  same  thing  while  using  the. 
same  words,  it  perhaps  were  as  well  if  they  would  keep  silence. 

The  words  "  coercion  "  and  "  invasion  "  are  n^uch  used  in  the~e 
days,  and  often  with  some  temper  and  hot  blood.  Let  us  make 
sure,  if  we  can,  that  we  do  not  misunderstand'  the  meaning  of 
those  who  use  them.  Let  us  get  the  exact  definitions  of  these 
words,  not  from  dictionaries,  but  from  the  men  themselves,  who 
certainly  deprecate  the  things  they  would  represent  by  the  use 
of  the  words. 

What,  then,  is  coercion?  What  is  invasion?  Would  the 
marching  of  an  army  into  South  Carolina,  without  the  consent 
of  her  people,  and  with  hostile  intent  toward  them,  be  inva- 
sion? I  certainly  think  it  would,  and  it  would  be  coercion  also, 
if  the  South  Carolinians  were  forced  to  submit.  -But  if.  the 
United  States  should  merely  hold  and  retake  its  own  forts  and 
other  property,  and  collect  the  duties  on  foreign  importations, 
or  even  withhold  the  mails  from  places  where  they  were  habit- 
ually violated,  would  any  or  all  of  these  things  be  invasion  or 
coercion?  Do  our  professed  lovers  of  the  Union,  who  spite- 
fully resolve  that  they  will  resist  coercion  and  invasion,  under- 
stand that  such  things  as  these,  oft  the  part  of  the  United 
States,  would  be  coercion  or  invasion  of  a  State  ?  If  so,  their 
idea  of  means  to  preserve  the  object  of  their  great  affection 
would  seem  to  be  exceedingly  thin  and  airy.  If  sick,  the  little 
pills  of  the  homeopathist  would  be  much  too  large  for  it  to 
swallow.  In  their  view,  the  Union,  as  a  family  relation,  would 
geem  to  be  no  regular  marriage,  but  rather  a  sort  of  "free-love  " 
arrangement,  to  be  maintained  on  passional  attraction. 

By  the  way,  in  what  consists  the  special  sacredness  of  a 
State  ?  I  speak  not  of  the  position  assigned  to  a  State  in  the 
Union  by  the  Constitution,  for  that  is  a  bond  we  all  recognize. 
That  position,  however,  a  State  can  not  carry  out  of  the  Union 
with  it.  I  speak  of  that  assumed  primary  right  of  a  State  to 
rule  all  which  is  less  than  itself,  and  to  ruin  all  which  is  larger 
than  itself.  If  a  State  and  a  County,  in  a  given  case,  should  be 
equal  in  number  of  inhabitants,  in  what,  as  a  matter  of  princi- 
ple, is  the  State  better  than  the  County  ?  Would  an  exchange 
of  name  be  an  exchange  of  rights?  Upon  what  principle, 
upon  what  rightful  principle,  may  a  State,  being  no  more  than 


196  LIFE  OP  ABRAHAM  LINCOLN. 

one-fiftieth  part  of  the  nation  in  soil  and  population,  break  up 
the  nation,  and  then  coerce  a  proportionally  large  subdivision 
of  itself  in  the  most  arbitrary  way  ?  What  mysterious  right 
to  play  tyrant  is  conferred  on  a  district  of  country  with  its 
people,  by  merely  calling  it  a  State  ?  Fellow  citizens,  I  am  not 
asserting  anything.  I  am  merely  asking  questions  for  you 
to  consider.  And  now  allow  me  to  bid  you  farewell. 

Enthusiastic  greetings  awaited  the  President  elect  all  along 
his  route,  the  people  hailing  the  approach  of  the  day  which 
was  to  witness,  under  his  auspices,  the  beginning  of  a  new  regime 
for  the  nation. 


PA.RT   II. 


CHAPTER  I. 

Commencement  of  President  Lincoln's   Administration. — Retrospect 
and  Summary  of  Public  Brents. — Fort  Sumter. 

ON  the  4th  day  of  March,  1861,  Mr.  Lincoln  took  the  oath 
of  office,  as  President  of  the  United  States.  The  administra- 
tion of  James  Buchanan,  and  eight  years  of  intensely  southern 
sway  in  all  branches  of  the  National  Government,  were  now  at 
an  end.  During  the  four  months  that  had  intervened  since  the 
people  decreed  this  change  not  a  moment  had  been  lost  by  the 
leaders  in  the  now  clearly  developed  scheme  of  revolt,  in 
making  energetic  preparation  for  its  consummation.  So  well 
had  they  succeeded,  by  the  aid  of  bold  treason  or  of  inert 
complicity  at  the  national  capital,  that  they  imagined  they  had 
assured  the  full  attainment  of  their  object,  almost  without  the 
hazard  of  a  single  campaign.  While  professing,  however,  to 
believe  in  a  fancied  right  of  peaceable  secession,  and  proclaim- 
ing their  desire  to  be  left  unmolested  in  the  execution  of  their 
revolutionary  purposes,  the  chief  conspirators  well  knew  that 
this  immunity  could  only  be  gained  by  such  use  of  the  remain- 
ing days  of  the  outgoing  administration  that  the  crisis  should 
already  be  over,  or  resistance  to  their  treason  be  rendered  inef- 
fectual, when  the  new  administration  should  begin.  They 
industriously  collected  the  materials  of  war,  yet  spared  no 
efforts  to  bring  about  a  state  of  things  which  should  insure 
either  peaceful  submission  to  their  will  or  a  sure  vantage  ground 
for  an  appeal  to  arms. 

While  yet  the  question  of  passing  a  secession  ordinance  was 
pending  in  South  Carolina,  President  Buchanan,  in  his  annual 
message,  after  having  urged  the  unconstitutionality  of  the  pro- 
197 


198  LIFE   OP  ABRAHAM    LINCOLN, 

posed  action,  distinctly  notified  the  complotters  that  he  was 
equally  without  constitutional  power  to  oppose  their  carrying 
out  that  purpose.  When  appealed  to  by  the  veteran  head  of 
the  army,  at  a  still  earlier  day,  to  take  firm  military  possession 
of  the  United  States  forts  on  the  southern  coast,  the  same  pub- 
lic functionary  could  find  no  means  of  adopting  this  prudent 
precaution.  Consequently,  the  rebellious  South  Carolina  lead- 
ers carried  through  their  ordinance  of  secession  on  the  20th 
of  December,  1860.  Fort  Moultrie,  by  an  overt  act  of  treason, 
was  seized  on  the  28th,  and  the  Palmetto  flag  was  raised  over  Gov- 
ernment property  in  Charleston.  On  the  3d  of  January,  1861, 
without  even  the  pretext  of  a  secession  ordinance,  or  any  form 
of  authority  from  his  own  State,  Gov.  Brown,  of  Georgia, 
seized  Forts  Pulaski  and  Jackson,  at  Savannah ;  and  this  exam- 
ple was  followed  next  day,  in  Alabama,  by  the  occupation  of 
Fort  Morgan,  at  Mobile.  * 

The  patient  submission  with  which  all  these  acts  were  wit- 
nessed by  the  Executive,  nay,  the  meekness  with  which  he  had 
himself  invited  them,  and  the  ready  assistance  rendered  to 
these  efforts  of  treason  by  some  of  the  highest  officers  imme- 
diately about  him,  were  followed  by  the  natural  results.  On 
the  9th  of  January,  the  steamer  Star  of  the  West,  tardily  dis- 
patched with  a  small  re-enforcement  for  Fort  Sumter,  now  held 
by  a  totally  inadequate  garrison,  was  fired  into  from  rebel  bat- 
teries erected  on  Morris'  Island,  and  from  Fort  Moultrie.  On 
the  same  day,  the  conspirators  in  Mississippi,  now,  as  in  the 
times  of  repudiation,  under  the  lead  of  Jefferson  Davis,  fol- 
lowed their  co-laborers  in  South  Carolina,  in  the  pretense  of 
secession.  Alabama,  Florida  and  Georgia  were  speedily  sub- 
jected to  a  similar  process  of  rebel  manipulation.  Louisiana, 
on  the  28th  of  January,  and  Texas  on  the  1st  of  February, 
were  proclaimed  as  having  dissolved  their  connection  with  the 
Union.  Meanwhile,  the  delegates  of  these  States  successively 
withdrew  from  Congress. 

On  the  10th  of  December,  Howell  Cobb,  Secretary  of  the 
Treasury,  had  resigned  the  position  he  had  so  zealously  per- 
verted to  the  aid  of  the  great  conspiracy,  and  departed  to  the 
more  immediate  scene  of  action,  that  he  might  hasten  the  con- 


LITE   OP   ABRAHAM    LINCOLN.  199 

summation,  for  a  time  delayed,  and  so  earnestly  resisted  in 
Georgia  as  seemingly  to  involve  the  result  in  doubt.  The  ven- 
erable Secretary  of  State,  Lewis  Cass,  surrendered  his  place 
four  days  later,  in  disgust  at  the  hopelessness  of  his  efforts  to 
rouse  President  Buchanan  to  some  effective  resistance  to  the 
destructive  blows  aimed  at  the  national  life.  John  B.  Floyd 
soon  after  (Dec.  29)  retired  from  the  office  of  Secretary  of 
War,  which  he  had  used  to  disarm  the  loyal  portion  of  the 
country,  and  to  fill  the  rebellious  States  with  cannon  and  mus- 
kets, which  they  were  not  slow  to  appropriate  to  the  uses  of 
rebellion.  Jacob  Thompson,  without  resigning,  absented  him- 
self on  a  tour  in  the  South,  throwing  all  the  weight  of  his 
influence  as  a  cabinet  officer  in  favor  of  rebellion  in  his  native 
State  of  North  Carolina.  Bold  peculation  was  meanwhile  left 
to  do  its  work  in  his  department,  in  aid  of  the  treasonable 
labors  of  high  officials  in  crippling  the  Government,  and  in  ren- 
dering the  new  administration  as  powerless  as  possible  to  meet 
the  approaching  crisis.  The  Secretary  of  the  Navy  had  noto- 
riously dispersed  our  war  vessels  to  distant  seas,  so  that  months 
must  pass  before  the  incoming  administration  could  bring  an 
effective  naval  force  to  bear  on  the  rebellion. 

Delegates  from  the  seven  States  in  which  this  spreading 
insurrection  had  become  predominant  assembled  at  Montgom- 
ery, in  Alabama,  on  the  6th  of  February,  organized  their 
"Confederacy"  under  a  temporary  constitution,  and,  on  the 
9th,  selected  Jefferson  Davis  to  be  their  President,  with  Alex- 
ander H.  Stephens  as  Vice  President.  The  latter  had  been 
chosen  as  a  representative  of  the  more  conservative  sentiment, 
having  strenuously  resisted  secession,  as  an  utterly  needless 
rebellion  against  "  the  best  government  upon  earth,"  and  his 
acceptance  was  a  token  of  the  general  acquiescence  of  all 
political  leaders  of  the  States  concerned  in  the  rebellion  now 
organized.  Around  this  nucleus  of  seven  States,  thus  com- 
pletely in  revolt,  it  was  expected  by  the  conspirators  that 
every  State  in  whjch  slavery  existed  would  soon  be  gathered, 
by  a  common  interest,  in  the  bonds  of  a  common  crime.  The 
leaven  of  rebellion  was  industriously  diffused  through  every 
other  sbveholding  State,  and  in  several,  movements  were 


200  LIFE    OF   ABRAHAM    LINCOLN. 

already  in  progress,  which  afterward  culminated  in  secession 
ordinances. 

While  this  confederacy  of  seven  States  was  forming,  a  con- 
vention, composed  of  delegates  from  most  of  the  free  States, 
and  from  all  the  border  slave  States,  was  in  session  at  Wash- 
ington, aiming  to  bring  about,  by  compromise,  a  peaceable  solu- 
tion of  the  pending  struggle.  On  the  part  of  leading  loyal 
men  this  conference  was  conducted  in  good  faith,  in  a  concilia- 
tory spirit,  and  with  an  earnest  desire  to  avert  any  more  seri- 
ous collision  than  had  already  occurred.  On  the  other  hand, 
it  was  manifest  that  at  least  the  delegates  from  Virginia,  with 
John  Tyler  at  their  head,  were  aiming  only  to  use  this  means 
to  widen  the  gulf  already  existing,  and  to  overcome  the  decided 
Union  majority  still  existing  in  all  the  border  slave  States. 
While  a  series  of  propositions,  therefore,  looking  to  peace  on 
the  basis  of  a  preserved  Union,  were  agreed  to  by  a  majority 
of  the  Convention  (which  adjourned  on  the  1st  of  March),  no 
practical  result  appeared  in  the  rebellious  districts,  unless  of 
an  adverse  character.  This  action  did  serve,  however,  to  pro- 
claim to  all  the  world  the  anxiety  of  the  people  of  the  free 
States  to  avert,  by  any  possible  concessions,  the  full  initiation 
of  civil  war.  On  the  llth  of  February,  likewise,  the  Federal 
House  of  Representatives  unanimously  passed  a  resolution, 
introduced  by  Mr.  Corwin,  of  Ohio  (soon  after  concurred  in  by 
the  Senate),  providing  for  an  amendment  to  the  Constitution 
of  the  United  States,  forever  prohibiting  any  legislation  by 
Congress  interfering  with  slavery  in  any  State  of  the  Union — 
a  measure  that  fully  set  aside  one  of  the  chief  pretended  occa- 
sions for  revolt.  Going  still  further,  in  the  way  of  concession, 
and  in  fact  surrendering  the  long  controversy  about  slavery 
in  the  Territories,  were  the  resolutions  known  as  the  Crittenden 
Compromise,  and  which  certain  Southern  Senators  deliberately 
defeated,  in  their  own  house,  by  withholding  their  votes. 

The  temper  and  purpose  of  the  secession  leaders  were  thua 
distinctly  manifested.  They  would  have  no  compromise.  On 
their  own  terms,  of  final  separation  alone,  would  they  listen  to 
terms  of  peace.  Many  of  them  manifestly  desired  war,  and 
exulted  in  the  hope  of  such  revenge  upon  their  Northern  oppo- 


LIFE   OP   ABRAHAM    LINCOLN.  201 

nents  as  war  only  could  bring ;  while  all  insisted  on  yielding 
nothing,  except  on  the  condition  of  substantially  gaining  every- 
thing they  aimed  at,  by  a  full  recognition  of  a  separate  and 
independent  Confederacy  comprising  all  the  slaveholding  States. 
For  to  this  end,  though  less  than  half  the  number  of  those 
States  had  already  been  carried  by  the  revolutionists,  they  were 
zealously  laboring,  and  of  the  final  issue  no  doubt  was  enter- 
tained, when  once  the  Montgomery  organization  was  counte- 
nanced as  a  legitimate  government. 

It  is  unpleasant  to  mention,  yet  impartial  history  can  not 
omit  the  fact,  that  hopes  of  peaceable  submission  to  secession 
were  seemingly  encouraged  in  Southern  minds  by  newspapers 
and  orators  in  the  North,  at  this  period,  and  that  a  number  of 
political  leaders,  with  scarcely  any  apparent  popular  support,  it 
is  true,  earnestly  advocated  what  they  termed  the  policy  of 
peaceable  separation.  To  this  day,  perhaps,  it  may  be  doubt- 
ful to  many  minds  whether,  had  not  a  spirit  of  unbounded 
insolence  and  a  haughty  defiance,  that  spurned  even  the  slight- 
est concession,  been  manifested  by  the  secession  leaders,  this 
complacent  policy — more  fatal  than  any  former  compromise — 
might  not  have  gained  the  ascendency  in  the  popular  mind. 

So  much  had  been  brought  to  final  accomplishment  by  the 
conspirators  during  the  closing  months  of  Mr.  Buchanan's 
administration.  Such  was  the  spirit  manifested  by  them  to 
repel  conciliation  in  every  form,  to  maintain  peace  solely  on 
condition  of  the  complete  submission  of  the  loyal  States  to 
every  essential  demand  of  secessionism.  And  such,  on  the 
other  hand,  was  the  amicable  disposition  of  loyal  men  every- 
where, and  their  earnest  wish  to  avoid  a  collision  of  arms,  if 
any  other  solution  were  possible  short  of  absolute  degradation 
and  ruin  to  the  nation.  Jefferson  Davis,  in  assuming  power  as 
head  of  the  "Confederacy,"  at  Montgomery,  February  18, 
stated  the  sole  conditions  of  peace  in  the  following  unmistake- 
able  language : 

If  a  just  perception  of  mutual  interest  shall  permit  us 
peaceably  to  pursue  oy/r  separate  political  career,  my  most  earn- 
est desire  will  have  been  fulfilled.  But  if  this  be  denied  MS, 
and  the  integrity  of  our  territory  and  jurisdiction  be  assailed, 


202  LIFE   OP   ABRAHAM   LINCOLN. 

it  will  but  remain  for  us  with  firm  resolve  to  appeal  to  arms,  and 
invoke  the  blessing  of  Providence  on  a  just  cause. 

This  was  immediately  followed  by  the  recommendation  that 
a  Confederate  army  be  organized  and  put  in  training  for  the 
emergency  ;  "  a  well  instructed,  disciplined  army,  more  numer- 
ous than  would  usually  be  required,  on  a  peace  establishment," 
being  distinctly  indicated  as  essential  to  his  plans. 

While  it  is  thus  clear  that  he  and  all  his  coadjutors  were  de- 
termined on  war  from  the  outset,  and  at  all  hazards,  unless  dis- 
union were  recognized  as  an  accomplished  fact,  and  the  juris- 
diction of  the  Government  over  the  rebellious  districts  were 
abandoned  without  a  struggle,  it  is  equally  manifest  that  not  a 
single  -grievance  complained  of  could  have  failed  of  redress, 
under  our  popular  institutions,  by  peaceable  methods.  While 
deluding  their  adherents  with  smooth  words,  they  deliberately 
chose  an  appeal  to  arms,  and  scorned  a  peaceable  solution,  which 
was  equally  at  their  disposal,  under  the  Constitution  and  the 
laws.  ' 

Some  acts  of  vigor  and  patriotic  fidelity,  during  the  closing 
days  of  Mr.  Buchanan's  administration,  deserve  to  be  remem- 
bered, to  the  honor  of  those  cabinet  ministers,  to  whom  alone 
the  country  was  indebted  for  these  redeeming  deeds.  Dix, 
Stauton  and  Holt  had  preserved  a  remainder  of  popular  respect 
for  a  Government  that  all  the  loyalty  of  the  nation  rejoiced  to 
see  transferred  to  the  hands  of  a  new  executive,  untried  though 
he  was,  and  terrible  as  was  the  task  devolving  upon  him. 

Despite  all  the  threats,  constantly  repeated  for  months  past, 
that  Mr.  Lincoln  should  never  be  permitted  to  occupy  the 
Presidential  chair,  and  desperate  as  had  been  the  plottings  for 
his  assassination,  he  appeared  at  the  east  front  of  the  capitol 
and  received,  at  the  appointed  time,  the  oath  from  "Chief  Justice 
Taney.  During  the  period  that  had  elapsed  since  the  election, 
Mr.  Lincoln  had  carefully  studied  the  situation,  closely  watch- 
ing the  course  of  events.  His  inaugural  address  shows  the 
results  of  his  observation,  and  of  the  application  of  his  sterling 
good  sense  and  comprehensive  practical  judgment  to  the  mastery 
of  the  problem  to  be  solved  by  him  as  head  of  the  nation.  He 


LIFE   OP  ABRAHAM   LINCOLN.  203 

clearly  understood  how  everything  depended,  so  far  as  his 
administration  was  concerned,  on  a  true  insight  into  the  very 
heart  of  the  question,  and  on  the  initiation,  at  the  very  outset, 
of  an  appropriate  policy  in  dealing  with  the  rebellion.  The 
great  insurrection  is  the  uppermost  thought — almost  the  exclu- 
sive theme — of  his  inaugural  address.  That  this  was  the 
wisest  utterance  of  the  time,  manifesting  a  rare  foresight,  as 
well  as  a  remarkable  skill  in  briefly  presenting  the  true  ques- 
tions at  issue,  in  their  proper  bearings,  with  a  calm,  candid 
appeal  to  the  nation,  in  all  its  parts,  in  behalf  of  law,  order 
and  peace,  will  more  and  more  clearly  appear  in  the  light  of 
after  events.  Whoever  would  acquaint  himself  with  the 
inmost  traits  of  Mr.  Lincoln's  character,  as  a  public  man, 
and  at  the  same  time  discover,  in  honest  and  plain  words,  a 
statement  in  advance  of  the  fundamental  principles  by  which 
his  administration  has  been  guided,  let  him  carefully  study 
this  paper,  every  sentence  of  which  is  full  of  meaning : 

MR.  LINCOLN'S  INAUGURAL  ADDRESS. 

FELLOW-CITIZENS  OP  THE  UNITED  STATES  :  In  compliance 
with  a  custom  as  old  as  the  Government  itself,  I  appear  before 
you  to  address  you  briefly,  and  to  take,  in  your  presence,  the 
oath  prescribed  by  the  Constitution  of  the  United  States,  to  be 
taken  by  the  President  before  he  enters  on  the  execution  of 
his  office. 

I  do  not  consider  it  necessary,  at  present,  for  me  to  discuss 
those  matters  of  administration  about  which  there  is  no  special 
anxiety  or  excitement.  Apprehension  seems  to  exist  among 
the  people  of  the  Southern  States,  that,  by  the  accession  of  a 
Republican  Administration,  their  property  and  their  peace  and 
personal  security  are  to  be  endangered.  There  has  never  been 
any  reasonable  cause  for  such  apprehension.  Indeed,  the  most 
ample  evidence  to  the  contrary  has  all  the  while  existed,  and 
been  open  to  their  inspection.  It  is  found  in  nearly  all  the 
published  speeches  of  him  who  now  addresses  you.  I  do  but 
quote  from  one  of  those  speeches,  when  I  declare  that  "  I  have 
no  purpose,  directly  or  indirectly,  to  interfere  with  the  institu- 
tion of  slavery  in  the  States  where  it  exists."  I  believe  I  have 
no  lawful  right  to  do  so ;  and  I  have  no  inclination  to  do  so. 
Those  who  nominated  and  elected  me,  did  so  with  the  full 
knowledge  (hat  I  had  made  this,  and  made  many  similar  deck- 


204  LIFE   OF   ABRAHAM    LINCOLN. 

rations,  and  had  never  recanted  them.  And,  more  than  this 
they  placed  in  the  platform,  for  my  acceptance,  and  as  a  law  to 
themselves  and  to  me,  the  clear  and  emphatic  resolution  which 
I  now  read : 

"  Resolved,  That  the  maintenance  inviolate  of  the  rights  of 
the  States,  and  especially  the  right  of  each  State  to  order  and 
control  its  own  domestic  institutions  according  to  its  own  judg- 
ment exclusively,  is  essential  to  that  balance  of  power  on  which 
the  perfection  and  endurance  of  our  political  fabric  depend; 
and  we  denounce  the  lawless  invasion,  by  armed  force,  of  the 
soil  of  any  State  or  Territory,  no  matter  under  what  pretext,  as 
among  the  gravest  of  crimes." 

I  now  reiterate  these  sentiments  j  and  in  doing  so  I  only 
press  upon  the  public  attention  the  most  conclusive  evidence  of 
which  the  case  is  susceptible,  that  the  property,  peace,  and 
security  of  no  section  are  to  be  in  anywise  endangered  by  the 
now  incoming  administration. 

I  add,  too,  that  all  the  protection  which,  consistently  with  the 
Constitution  and  the  laws,  can  be  given,  will  be  cheerfully  given 
to  all  the  States  when  lawfully  demanded,  for  whatever  cause, 
as  cheerfully  to  one  section  as  to  another. 

There  is  much  controversy  about  the  delivering  up  of  fugi- 
tives from  service  or  labor.  The  clause  I  now  read  is  as  plainly 
written  in  the  Constitution  as  any  other  of  its  provisions : 

"  No  person  held  to  service  or  labor  in  one  State  under  the 
laws  thereof,  escaping  into  another,  shall,  in  consequence  of  any 
law  or  regulation  therein,  be  discharged  from  such  service  or 
labor,  but  shall  be  delivered  up  on  claim  of  the  party  to  whom 
such  service  or  labor  may  be  due." 

It  is  scarcely  questioned  that  this  provision  was  intended  by 
those  who  made  it  for  the  reclaiming  of  what  we  call  fugitive 
slaves  ;  and  the  intention  of  the  lawgiver  is  the  law. 

All  members  of  Congress  swear  their  support  to  the  whole 
Constitution — to  this  provision  as  well  as  any  other.  To  the 
proposition,  then,  that  slaves  whose  cases  come  within  the  terms 
of  this  clause  "  shall  be  delivered  up,"  their  oaths  are  unani- 
mous. Now,  if  they  would  make  the  effort  in  good  temper, 
could  they  not,  with  nearly  equal  unanimity,  frame  and  pass  a 
law  by  means  of  which  to  keep  good  that  unanimous  Oath  ? 

There  is  some  difference  of  opinion  whether  this  clause 
should  be  enforced  by  National  or  by  State  authority  ;  but 
eurely  that  difference  is  not  a  very  material  one.  If  the  slave 
is  to  be  surrendered,  it  can  be  of  but  little  consequence  to  him 
or  to  others  by  which  authority  it  is  done  ;  and  should  any  one, 
in  any  case,  be  content  that  this  oath  shall  go  unkept  on  a 
merely  unsubstantial  controversy  as  to  how  it  shall  be  kept  ? 


LIFE  OF   ABRAHAM   LINCOLN.  205 

Again,  in  any  law  upon  this  subject,  ought  not  all  the  safe- 
guards of  liberty  known  in  the  civilized  and  humane  jurispru- 
dence to  be  introduced,  so  that  a  free  man  be  not,  in  any  case, 
surrendered  as  a  slave  ?  And  might  it  not  be  well  at  the  same 
time  to  provide  by  law  for  the  enforcement  of  that  clause  in  the 
Constitution  which  guarantees  that  "  the  citizens  of  each  State 
shall  be  entitled  to  all  the  privileges  and  immunities  of  citizens 
in  the  several  States?" 

I  take  the  official  oath  to-day  with  no  mental  reservations,  and 
with  no  purpose  to  construe  the  Constitution  or  laws  by  any 
hypercritical  rules ;  and  while  I  do  not  choose  now  to  specify 
particular  acts  of  Congress  as  proper  to  be  enforced,  I  do  sug- 
gest that  it  will  be  much  safer  for  all,  both  in  official  and 
private  stations,  to  conform  to  and  abide  by  all  those  acts  which 
stand  unrepealed,  than  to  violate  any  of  them,  trusting  to  find 
impunity  in  having  them  held  to  be  unconstitutional. 

It  is  seventy-two  years  since  the  first  inauguration  of  a 
President  under  our  National  Constitution.  During  that  period, 
fifteen  different  and  very  distinguished  citizens  have  in  succes- 
sion administered  the  executive  branch  of  the  Government. 
They  have  conducted  it  through  many  perils,  and  generally  with 
great  success.  Yet,  with  all  this  scope  for  precedent,  I  now 
enter  upon  the  same  task,  for  the  brief  constitutional  term  of 
four  years,  under  great  and  peculiar  difficulties. 

A  disruption  of  the  Federal  Union,  heretofore  only  menaced, 
is  now  formidably  attempted.  I  hold  that  in  the  contemplation 
of  universal  law  and  of  the  Constitution,  the  Union  of  these 
States  is  perpetual.  Perpetuity  is  implied,  if  not  expressed,  in 
the  fundamental  law  of  all  national  governments.  It  is  safe  to 
assert  that  no  government  proper  ever  had  a  provision  in  its 
organic  law  for  its  own  termination.  Continue  to  execute  all 
the  express  provisions  of  our  National  Constitution,  and  the 
Union  will  endure  forever,  it  being  impossible  to  destroy  it, 
except  by  some  action  not  provided  for  in  the  instrument  itself. 

Again,  if  the  United  States  be  not  a  government  proper,  but 
an  association  of  States  in  the  nature  of  a  contract  merejy,  can 
it,  as  a  contract,  be  peaceably  unmade  by  less  than  all  the 
parties  who  made  it  ?  One  party  to  a  contract  may  violate  it — 
break  it,  so  to  speak  ;  but  does  it  not  require  all  to  lawfully 
rescind  it  ?  Descending  from  these  general  principles,  we  find 
the  proposition  that  in  legal  contemplation  the  Union  is  per- 
petual, confirmed  by  the  history  of  the  Union  itself. 

The  Union  is  much  older  than  the  Constitution.  It  was 
formed,  in  fact,  by  the  Articles  of  Association  in  1774.  It  was 
matured  and  continued  in  the  Declaration  of  Independence  in 
1776.  It  was  further  matured,  and  the  faith  of  all  the  then 


206  LIFE  OF  ABEAHAM  LINCOLN. 

thirteen  States  expressly  plighted  and  engaged  that  it  should 
be  perpetual,  by  the  Articles  of  the  Confederation,  in  1778  ; 
and,  finally,  in  1787,  one  of  the  declared  objects  for  ordaining 
and  establishing  the  Constitution  was  to  form  a  more  perfect 
Union.  But  if  the  destruction  of  the  Union  by  one  or  by  a 
part  only  of  the  States  be  lawfully  possible,  the  Union  is  less 
than  before,  the  Constitution  having  lost  the  vital  element  of 
perpetuity. 

It  follows  from  these  views  that  no  State,  upon  its  own  mere 
motion,  can  lawfully  get  out  of  the  Union ;  that  resolves  and 
ordinances  to  that  effect,  are  legally  void ;  and  that  acts  of 
violence  within  any  State  or  States  against  the  authority  of'  the 
United  States,  are  insurrectionary  or  revolutionary,  according 
to  circumstances. 

I  therefore  consider  that,  in  view  of  the  Constitution  and  the 
laws,  the  Union  is  unbroken,  and,  to  the  extent  of  my  ability,  I 
shall  take  care,  as  the  Constitution  itself  expressly  enjoins  upon 
me,  that  the  laws  of  the  Union  shall  be  faithfully  executed  in 
all  the  States.  Doing  this,  which  I  deem  to  be  only  a  simple 
duty  on  my  part,  I  shall  perfectly  perform  it,  so  far  as  is  prac- 
ticable, unless  my  rightful  masters,  the  American  people,  shall 
withhold  the  requisition,  or  in  some  authoritative  manner  direct 
the  contrary. 

I  trust  this  will  not  be  regarded  as  a  menace,  but  only  as  the 
declared  purpose  of  the  Union  that  it  will  constitutionally 
defend  and  maintain  itself. 

In  doing  this  there  need  be  no  bloodshed  or  violence,  and 
there  shall  be  none  unless  it  is  forced  upon  the  National 
authority. 

The  power  confided  to  me  will  be  used  to  hold,  occupy,  and 
possess  the  property  and  places  belonging  to  the  Government,  and 
collect  the  duties  and  imposts  ;  but  beyond  what  may  be  neces- 
sary for  these  objects  there  will  be  no  invasion,  no  using  of 
force  against  or  among  the  people  anywhere. 

Where  hostility  to  the  United  States  shall  be  so  great  and  so 
universal  as  to  prevent  competent  resident  citizens  from  holding 
the  Federal  offices,  there  will  be  no  attempt  to  force  obnoxious 
strangers  among  the  people  that  object.  While  the  strict  legal 
right  may  exist  of  the  Government  to  enforce  the  exercise  of 
these  offices,  the  attempt  to  do  so  would  be  so  irritating,  and  so 
nearly  impracticable  withal,  that  I  deem  it  better  to  forego,  for 
the  time,  the  uses  of  such  offices. 

The  mails,  unless  repelled,  will  continue  to  be  furnished  in 
all  parts  of  the  Union. 

So  far  as  possible,  the  people  everywhere  shall  have  that 


LIFE   OP  ABRAHAM   LINCOLN.  207 

sense  of  perfect  security  which  is  most  favorable  to  calm  thought 
and  reflection. 

The  course  here  indicated  will  be  followed,  unless  current 
events  and  experience  shall  show  a  modification  or  change  to  be 
proper ;  and  in  every  case  and  exigency  my  best  discretion  will 
be  exercised  according  to  the  circumstances  actually  existing, 
and  with  a  view  and  hope  of  a  peaceful  solution  of  the  National 
troubles,  and  the  restoration  of  fraternal  sympathies  and 
affections. 

That  there  are  persons,  in  one  section  or  another,  who  seek 
to  destroy  the  Union  at  all  events,  and  are  glad  of  any  pretext 
to  do  it,  I  will  neither  affirm  nor  deny.  But  if  there  be  such, 
I  need  address  no  word  to  them. 

To  those,  however,  who  really  love  the  Union,  may  I  not 
speak,  before  entering  upon  so  grave  a  matter  as  the  destruction 
of  our  National  fabric,  with  all  its  benefits,  its  memories,  and 
its  hopes  ?  Would  it  not  be  well  to  ascertain  why  we  do  it  ? 
Will  you  hazard  so  desperate  a  step,  while  any  portion  of.  the 
ills  you  fly  from  have  no  real  existence  ?  Will  you,  while  the 
certain  ills  you  fly  to  are  greater  than  all  the  real  ones  you  fly 
from  ?  Will  you  risk  the  commission  of  so  fearful  a  mistake  ? 
All  profess  to  be  content  in  the  Union  if  all  constitutional 
rights  can  be  maintained.  Is  it  true,  then,  that  any  right, 
plainly  written  in  the  Constitution,  has  been  denied  ?  I  think 
not.  Happily  the  human  mind  is  so  constituted,  that  no  party 
can  reach  to  the  audacity  of  doing  this. 

Think,  if  you  can,  of  a  single  instance  in  which  a  plainly- 
written  provision  of  the  Constitution  has  ever  been  denied.  If, 
by  the  mere  force  of  numbers,  a  majority  should  deprive  a 
minority  of  any  clearly-written  constitutional  right,  it  might,  in 
a  moral  point  of  view,  justify  revolution  ;  it  certainly  would,  if 
such  right  were  a  vital  one.  But  such  is  not  our  case. 

All  the  vital  rights  of  minorities  and  of  individuals  are  so 
plainly  assured  to  them  by  affirmations  and  negations,  guar- 
antees and  prohibitions  in  the  Constitution,  that  controversies 
never  arise  concerning  them.  But  no  organic  law  can  ever  be 
framed  with  a  provision  specifically  applicable  to  every  question 
which  may  occur  in  practical  administration.  No  foresight  can 
anticipate,  nor  any  document  of  reasonable  length  contain, 
express  provisions  for  all  possible  questions.  Shall  fugitives 
from  labor  be  surrendered  by  National  or  by  State  authorities  ? 
The  Constitution  does  not  expressly  say.  Must  Congress  pro- 
tect slavery  in  the  Territories?  The  Constitution  does  not 
expressly  say.  From  questions  of  this  class,  spring  all  our 
constitutional  controversies,  and  we  divide  upon  them  into 
majorities  and  minorities. 


208  LIFE   OP   ABRAHAM   LINCOLN. 

If  the  minority  will  not  acquiesce,  the  majority  must,  or  the 
Government  must  cease.  There  is  no  alternative  for  continuing 
the  Government  but  acquiescence  on  the  one  side  or  the  other. 
If  a  minority  in  such  a  case,  will  secede  rather  than  acquiesce, 
they  make  a  precedent  which,  in  turn,  will  ruin  and  divide  them, 
for  a  minority  of  their  own  will  secede  from  them  whenever  a 
majority  refuses  to  be  controlled  by  such  a  minority.  For 
instance,  why  not  any  portion  of  a  new  Confederacy,  a  year  or 
two  hence,  arbitrarily  secede  again,  precisely  as  portions  of  the 
present  Union  now  claim  to  secede  from  it  ?  All  who  cherish 
disunion  sentiments  are  now  being  educated  to  the  exact  temper 
of  doing  this.  Is  there  such  perfect  identity  of  interests 
among  the  States  to  compose  a  new  Union  as  to  produce  har- 
mony only,  and  prevent  renewed  secession  ?  Plainly,  the  central 
idea  of  secession  is  the  essence  of  anarchy. 

A  majority  held  in  restraint  by  constitutional  check  and 
limitation,  and  always  changing  easily  with  deliberate  changes 
of  popular  opinions  and  sentiments,  is  the  only  true  sovereign 
of  a  free  people.  Whoever  rejects  it,  does,  of  necessity,  fly  to 
anarchy  or  to  despotism.  Unanimity  is  impossible ;  the  rule  of 
a  majority,  as  a  permanent  arrangement,  is  wholly  inadmissible. 
So  that,  rejecting  the  majority  principle,  anarchy  or  despotism, 
in  some  form,  is  all  that  is  left. 

I  do  not  forget  the  position  assumed  by  some  that  constitu- 
tional questions  are  to  be  decided  by  the.  Supreme  Court,  nor 
do  I  deny  that  such  decisions  must  be  binding  in  any  case  upon 
the  parties  to  a  suit,  as  to  the  object  of  that  suit,  while  they  are 
also  entitled  to  a  very  high  respect  and  consideration  in  all 
parallel  cases  by  all  other  departments  of  the  Government;  and 
while  it  is  obviously  possible  that  such  decision  may  be  erro- 
neous in  any  given  case,  still  the  evil  effect  following  it,  being 
limited  to  that  particular  case,  with  the  chance  that  it  may  be 
overruled  and  never  become  a  precedent  for  other  cases,  can 
better  be  borne  than  could  the  evils  of  a  different  practice. 

At  the  same  time  the  candid  citizen  must  confess  that  if 
the  policy  of  the  Government  upon  the  vital  questions  affecting 
the  whole  people  is  to  be  irrevocably  fixed  by  the  decisions  of 
the  Supreme  Court,  the  instant  they  are  made,  as  in  ordinary 
litigation  between  parties  in  personal  actions,  the  people  will 
have  ceased  to  be  their  own  masters,  unless  having  to  that 
extent  practically  resigned  their  Government  into  the  hands  of 
that  eminent  tribunal. 

Nor  is  there  in  this  view  any  assault  upon  the  Court  or  the 
Judges.  It  is  a  duty  from  which  they  may  not  shrink,  to 
decide  cases  properly  brought  before  them  ;  and  it  is  no  fault 
of  theirs  if  others  seek  to  turn  their  decisions  to  political  pur- 


LIFE   OP   ABRAHAM   LINCOLN.  209 

poses.  One  section  of  our  country  believes  slavery  is  right  and 
ought  to  be  extended,  while  the  other  believes  it  is  wrong  and 
ought  not  to  be  extended  ;  and  this  is  the  only  substantial  dis- 

Eute  ;  and  the  fugitive  slave  clause  of  the  Constitution,  and  the 
iw  for  the  suppression  of  the  foreign  slave-trade,  are  each  as 
well  enforced,  perhaps,  as  any  law  can  ever  be  in  a  community 
where  the  moral  sense  of  the  people  imperfectly  supports  the 
law  itself.  The  great  body  of  the  people  abide  by  the  dry 
legal  obligation  in  both  cases,  and  a  few  break  over  in  each. 
This,  I  think,  can  not  be  perfectly  cured,  and  it  would 
be  worse  in  both  cases  after  the  separation  of  the  sec- 
tions than  before.  The  foreign  slave-trade,  now  imperfectly 
suppressed,  would  be  ultimately  revived,  without  restriction,  in 
one  section ;  while  fugitive  slaves,  now  only  partially  surren- 
dered, would  not  be  surrendered  at  all  by  the  other. 

Physically  speaking,  we  can  not  separate  ;  we  can  not  remove 
our  respective  sections  from  each  other,  nor  build  an  impassable 
wall  between  them.  A  husband  and  wife  may  be  divorced,  and 
go  out  ofLfrhe  presence  and  beyond  the  reach  of  each  other,  but 
the  different  parts  of  our  country  can  not  do  this.  They  can 
not  but  remain  face  to  face  ;  and  intercourse,  either  amicable  or 
hostile,  must  continue  between  them.  Is  it  possible,  then,  to 
make  that  intercourse  more  advantageous  or  more  satisfactory 
after  separation  than  before  ?  Can  aliens  make  treaties  easier 
than  friends  can  make  laws  ?  Can  treaties  be  more  faithfully 
enforced  between  aliens  than  laws  can  among  friends?  Sup- 
pose you  go  to  war,  you  can  not  fight  always;  and  when,  after 
much  loss  on  both  sides,  and  no  gain  on  either,  you  cease  fight- 
ing, the  identical  questions  as  to  terms  of  intercourse  are  again 
upon  you. 

This  country,  with  its  institutions,  belongs  to  the  people  who 
inhabit  it.  Whenever  they  shall  grow  weary  of  the  existing 
Government,  they  can  exercise  their  constitutional  right  of 
amending,  or  their  revolutionary  right  to  dismember  or  over- 
throw it.  I  can  not  be  ignorant  of  the  fact  that  many  worthy 
and  patriotic  citizens  are  desirous  of  having  the  Natiorial  Con- 
stitution amended.  While  I  make  no  recommendation  of 
amendment,  I  fully  recognize  the  full  authority  of  the  people 
over  the  whole  subject,  to  be  exercised  in  either  of  the  modes 
prescribed  in  the  instrument  itself,  and  I  should,  under  exist- 
ing  circumstances,  favor,  rather  than  oppose,  a  fair  opportunity 
being  afforded  the  people  to  act  upon  it. 

I  will  venture  to  add,  that  to  me  the  convention  mode  seems 

preferable,  in   that  it  allows  amendments  to  originate  with  the 

people  themselves,  instead  of  only  permitting  them  to  take  or 

reject  propositions   originated   by  others  not  especially  chosen 

18 


210  LIFE   OF   ABRAHAM   LINCOLN. 

for  the  purpose,  and  which  might  not  he  precisely  such  as  they 
would  wish  either  to  accept  or  refuse.  I  understand  that  a  pro- 
posed amendment  to  the  Constitution  (which  amendment,  how- 
ever, I  have  not  seen)  has  passed  Congress,  to  the  effect  that 
the  Federal  Government  shall  never  interfere  with  the  domestic 
institutions  of  States,  including  that  of  persons  held  to  service. 
To  avoid  misconstruction  of  what  I  have  said,  I  depart  from 
my  purpose  not  to  speak  of  particular  amendments,  so  far  as  to 
say  that,  holding  such  a  provision  to  now  be  implied  constitu- 
tional law,  I  have  no  objection  to  its  being  made  express  and 
irrevocable. 

The  Chief  Magistrate  derives  all  his  authority  from  the  people, 
and  they  have  conferred  none  upon  him  to  fix  the  terms  for  the 
separation  of  the  States.  The  people  themselves,  also,  can  do  this 
if  they  choose,  but  the  Executive,  as  such,  has  nothing  to  do 
with  it.  His  duty  is  to  administer  the  present  government  as 
it  came  to  his  hands,  and  to  transmit  it  unimpaired  by  him  to 
his  successor.  Why  should  there  not  be  a  patient  confidence 
in  the  ultimate  justice  of  the  people  ?  Is  there  any  better  or 
equal  hope  in  the  world  ?  In  our  present  differences  is  either 
party  without  faith  of  being  in  the  right?  If  the  Almighty 
Kuler  of  nations,  with  his  eternal  truth  and  justice,  be  on  your 
side  of  the  North,  or  on  yours  of  the  South,  that  truth  and 
that  justice  will  surely  prevail  by  the  judgment  of  this  great 
tribunal,  the  American  people.  By  the  frame  of  the  Govern- 
ment under  which  we  live,  this  same  people  have  wisely  given 
their  public  servants  but  little  power  for  mischief,  and  have 
with  equal  wisdom  provided  for  the  return  of  that  little  to  their 
own  hands  at  very  short  intervals.  While  the  people  retain 
their  virtue  and  vigilance,  no  administration,  by  any  extreme 
wickedness  or  folly,  can  very  seriously  injure  the  Government 
in  the  short  space  of  four  years. 

My  countrymen,  one  and  all,  think  calmly  and  well  upon 
this  whole  subject.  Nothing  valuable  can  be  lost  by  taking 
time. 

If  there  be  an  object  to  hurry  any  of  you,  in  hot  haste,  to 
a  step  which  you  would  never  take  deliberately,  that  object  will 
bo  frustrated  by  taking  time ;  but  no  good  object  can  be  frus- 
trated by  it. 

Such  of  you  as  are  now  dissatisfied  still  have  the  old  Consti- 
tution unimpaired,  and  on  the  sensitive  point,  the  laws  of  your 
own  framing  under  it ;  while  the  new  administration  will  have 
no  immediate  power,  if  it  would,  to  change  either. 

If  it  were  admitted  that  you  who  are  dissatisfied  hold  the 
right  side  in  the  dispute,  there  is  still  no  single  reason  for  pre- 


LIFE  OP  ABRAHAM  LINCOLN.  211 

cipitate  action.  Intelligence,  patriotism,  Christianity,  and  a 
firm  reliance  on  Him  who  has  never  yet  forsaken  this  favored 
land,  are  still  competent  to  adjust,  in  the  best  way,  all  our  pres- 
ent difficulties. 

In  your  hands,  my  dissatisfied  fellow-countrymen,  and  not  in 
mine,  is  the  momentous  issue  of  civil  war.  The  Government 
will  not  assail  you. 

You  can  have  no  conflict  without  being  yourselves  the 
aggressors.  You  have  no  oath  registered  in  Heaven  to  destroy 
the  Government;  while  I  shall  have  the  most  solemn  one  to 
"preserve,  protect,  and  defend"  it. 

I  am  loath  to  close.  We  are  not  enemies,  but  friends.  We 
must  not  be  enemies.  Though  passion  may  have  strained,  it 
must  not  break  our  bonds  of  affection. 

The  mystic  cords  of  memory,  stretching  from  every  battle- 
field and  patriot  grave  to  every  living  heart  and  hearthstone  all 
over  this  broad  land,  will  yet  swell  the  chorus  of  the  Union, 
when  again  touched,  as  surely  they  will  be,  by  the  better  angels 
of  our  nature. 

Both  to  the  large  assemblage  that  listened  to  the  distinct  recital 
of  this  address,  in  tones  which  made  every  word  audible  to  the 
throng,  and  to  loyal  men  everywhere,  as  it  was  brought  to  them  a 
few  minutes  or  hours  later,  by  the  aid  of  telegraph  and  printing 
press,  it  was  a  welcome  message.  The  people  saw  in  it  an  as- 
surance that  imbecility,  double-dealing,  or  treachery,  no  longer 
had  sway  in  the  nation ;  that  the  new  President  was  determined  to 
carry  out  the  behests  of  the  people  in  maintaining  the  National 
integrity ;  and  that,  while  thus  faithfully  observing  his  official 
oath,  he  would  use  every  lawful  and  rational  means  to  avert  the 
convulsions  of  domestic  war.  He  distinctly  suggested  the 
holding  of  a  National  Constitutional  Convention,  which  would 
have  power  to  adjust  all  the  questions  properly  at  issue,  even 
including  peaceable  separation  in  a  lawful  manner,  by  a  change 
of  the  organic  law.  He  demonstrated  unanswerably  the- utter 
causelessness  of  war,  and  distinctly  assured  the  conspirators 
that  if  hostilities  were  commenced,  it  must  be  by  them,  and  not 
by  the  Government.  He  laid  down  a  line  of  policy  which,  had 
it  been  met  in  a  corresponding  spirit  on  the  other  side,  would 
inevitably  have  averted  disastrous  years  of  bloodshed  and  all 
their  consequences.  While  thus  announcing  his  views,  and 


212  LIFE    OF   ABRAHAM   LINCOLN. 

reaffirming  sentiments  formerly  uttered  by  himself,  as  well  as 
those  of  the  political  convention  which  nominated  him  for  the 
Presidency,  he  also  plainly  indicated  that  the  benefits  secured 
by  the  Constitution  to  any  portion  of  the  people  could  not  be 
claimed  by  them  while  trampling  that  instrument  under  foot. 
He  told  them  plainly  that  the  course  he  thus  marked  out  was 
not  one  to  be  pursued  toward  rebels  who  should  plunge  the 
nation  in  war.  He  gave  them  seasonable  notice  that  no  immu- 
nities could  be  claimed  under  the  assurances  given  on  this  or 
any  other  occasion,  inconsistent  with  the  changed  condition  of 
affairs,  should  they  madly  appeal  to  arms. 

The  whole  address  breathes  an  earnest  yearning  for  an  hon- 
orable peace.  It  does  not,  however,  like  the  unfortunate  mes- 
sage of  his  predecessor,  of  the  previous  December,  base  the 
desire  for  peace  on  a  confessed  helplessness  of  the  Government 
or  an  indisposition  to  exert  its  power  of  self-preservation.  A 
new  political  era  had  begun,  and  true  patriots  breathed  more 
freely. 

One  of  the  first  duties  of  the  President  was  to  purge  the 
Government  of  disloyal  or  doubtful  men  in  responsible  places. 
Long-continued  Democratic  precedent  justified  a  general  change 
of  civil  officers,  from  highest  to  lowest,  on  the  ground  of  politi- 
cal differences  alone.  But  after  the  treasonable  developments 
of  the  previous  months  and  years,  a  thorough  sifting  of  all 
the  Departments  became  indispensable,  from  high  considera- 
tions of  duty,  on  the  basis  of  loyalty  and  disloyalty,  rather  than 
of  mere  partisanship.  No  practical  measures  could  be  adopted 
before  this  change  was  at  least  partially  accomplished.  The 
magnitude  of  such  a  work,  to  which  the  President  gave  the 
most  earnest  and  unwearying  attention  for  weeks,  need  not  be 
indicated.  The  patience  with  which  the  "  claims  "  of  different 
candidates  for  place  were  weighed,  and  the  kindness  (tempered 
often  with  a  wholesome  firmness)  which  characterized  his 
deportment  toward  all,  usually  retained  the  confidence  and 
esteem  of  those  whom  he  felt  compelled  to  disappoint. 

It  was  during  the  days  between  his  arrival  in  Washington 
and  his  inauguration,  that  the  construction  of  his  Cabinet,  per- 
hapa  substantially  settled  in  his  own  mind  before  he  left  Illi- 


LIFE  OP  ABRAHAM  LINCOLN.  213 

nois,  was  definitely  determined.  The  position  occupied  by  Mr. 
Seward  before  the  country,  was  such  as  to  leave  no  hesitation 
as  to  the  propriety  of  offering  him  the  highest  place  of 
honor  under  the  Executive,  as  Secretary  of  State.  This  posi- 
tion was,  at  an  early  day,  placed  at  Mr.  Seward's  disposal.  The 
office  of  Attorney  General  was,  with  like  promptitude,  tendered 
to  Judge  Bates,  of  Missouri,  whose  leading  position  as  a 
Southern  statesman,  with  anti-slavery  tendencies,  of  the  Clay 
school,  had  caused  his  name  to  be  prominently  and  widely  used 
in  connection  with  the  Presidency  before  the  nomination  for 
that  office,  made  at  Chicago.  Governor  Chase,  of  Ohio,  who 
had  recently  been  elected  to  a  second  term  in  the  Senate,  after 
four  years  of  useful  and  popular  service  in  the  executive  chair 
of  his  State,  perhaps  quite  as  early  occurred  to  the  mind  of 
Mr.  Lincoln  as  a  man  specially  fitted  to  manage  the  finances  of 
the  nation  through  the  troublous  times  that  were  felt  to  be 
approaching.  This  difficult  post  Mr.  Chase  surrendered  his 
seat  in  the  Senate  to  accept.  Mr.  Cameron,  of  Pennsylvania, 
selected  as  Secretary  of  War ;  Mr.  Welles,  of  Connecticut,  as 
Secretary  of  the  Navy,  and  Mr.  Montgomery  Blair,  of  Mary- 
land, as  Postmaster  General,  were  all  leading  representatives  of 
the  Democratic  element  of  the  party  which  had  triumphed  in 
the  late  election.  Mr.  Caleb  B.  Smith,  of  Indiana,  a  contempo- 
rary of  Mr.  Lincoln  in  Congress,  and  for  years  one  of  the  most 
distinguished  Whig  politicians  of  the  West,  was  tendered  the 
place  of  Secretary  of  the  Interior,  which  he  accepted. 

It  deserves  remark  here,  that  John  Bell,  of  Tennessee,  who 
had  received  a  large  popular  vote  at  the  Presidential  election, 
and  whose  strength  in  the  electoral  college  made  him  the  third 
of  four  Presidential  nominees,  was  at  this  time  in  Washington, 
and  his  appointment  to  a  place  in  the  Cabinet,  as  a  loyal  Border 
State  man,  was  desired  by  many,  especially  in  the  West.  But 
Mr.  Blair,  an  avowed  Anti-Slavery  man,  and  viewed  as  one  of 
the  most  radical  of  Republicans,  was  preferred  to  Mr.  Bell,  a 
zealous  partisan  opponent,  and  one  whose  unreliable  character, 
as  developed  by  his  sudden  defection  to  the  Rebel  cause,  Presi- 
dent Lincoln  was  not  slow  to  perceive. 

Next  to  the  indispensable  and  primary  duty  of  securing,  in 


214  LIFE  OF  ABRAHAM   LINCOLN. 

the  places  under  him,  trustworthy  men,  in  sympathy  with  him- 
self as  to  the  great  questions  uppermost  in  the  public  mind, 
was  that  of  more  directly  preparing,  at  home  and  abroad,  to 
grapple  with  the  rebellion,  now  fully  organized  at  Montgomery, 
and  manifestly  emerging,  with  mad  haste,  into  open  hostilities. 
This  work  involved  nice  problems  of  foreign  diplomacy,  as  well 
as  prudent  care,  at  once  to  avert  divisions  in  the  loyal  States 
when  the  sharp  crisis  should  come,  and  to  place  the  onus  of 
commencing  civil  war  unequivocally  upon  the  secession  leaders, 
if  it  were  to  begin.  The  utmost  energy  was  also  needed  in  so 
prearranging  affairs  that  means  might  not  be  wanting  when 
battle  should  be  forced  upon  the  nation. 

In  this  view,  much  of  the  seeming  mystery  which  enveloped 
the  six  weeks  preceding  the  attack  on  Fort  Sumter,  disappears 
without  inquiring  into  State  secrets,  if,  at  this  period,  there 
were  such,  over  which  the  curtain  should  still  rest. 

For  several  days  the  inaugural  address  was  quietly  working 
its  way  among  the  people,  giving  heart  to  the  supporters  of 
the  Government  and  startling  the  conspirators  by  its  calm  and 
telling  appeal  to  thinking  men  every-where.  With  the  Rebel 
leaders  it  became  a  study  to  prevent  the  natural  effect  of  this 
State  paper  upon  those  whom  they  wished  to  follow  them,  not 
only  in  the  eight  Slave  States  which  had,  as  yet,  held  back 
from  the  fatal  step,  but  even  in  those  States  already  in  insur- 
rection. They  scrupled  at  nothing  in  their  attempts  to  ward 
off  its  influence  and  to  pervert  the  attitude  of  the  Government. 
At  the  same  time  they  were  zealous  and  active  in  completing 
the  direct  preparations  for  war  which  had  been  commenced 
many  months  before. 

Equally  busy,  and  for  a  much  longer  period,  had  they  been 
in  poisoning  the  public  mind  of  Europe.  The  diplomatic 
agents  employed  by  Mr.  Buchanan  had  been,  in  large  propor- 
tion, from  the  Slave  States,  and  of  those  from  the  North  some 
were  far  from  manifesting  a  genuine  fidelity  to  the  Government 
that  had  accredited  them.  To  change  these  Foreign  Ministers 
and  Consuls,  and  to  instruct  their  successors,  was  not  the  work 
of  a  day,  nor  did  a  removal  of  these  men  from  office  by  any 
means  necessarily  involve  their  retirement  from  the  vantage- 


LIFE   OP   ABRAHAM    LINCOLN.  215 

ground  they  had  gained.  They  had  rather  been  largely  rein- 
forced by  numerous  emissaries  sent  abroad  during  the  preceding 
autumn  and  winter. 

It  was  the  early  care  of  Mr.  Lincoln's  Administration, 
through  the  polished  pen  of  Mr.  Seward,  and  through  the  new 
diplomats  sent  abroad,  to  counteract  these  influences.  From 
this  period  commenced  the  gradual  formation  and  concentration 
of  a  public  sentiment  abroad  favorable  to  the  Government. 
Yet  the  change  was  not  immediately  apparent,  and  the  work 
was  a  slow  and  toilsome  one.  The  aim  to  convince  Foreign 
Nations  that  the  malcontents  were  clearly  and  wholly  in  the 
wrong,  that  the  intentions  of  the  Government  were  pacific,  and 
that  there  was  no  revolutionary  purpose  of  overturning  South- 
ern society  while  the  dissentients  yielded  obedience  to  the 
Constitution  and  the  laws,  can  not  have  failed  of  speedy  success 
with  candid  and  thoughtful  men  abroad  as  well  as  at  home. 
On  whom  the  whole  responsibility  of  war  would  rest,  should 
war  come,  no  longer  admitted  of  doubt. 

The  Montgomery  "  Congress,"  on  the  9th  of  March,  passed 
an  act,  pursuant  to  the  recommendation  of  Mr.  Davis,  for  the 
organization  of  a  Confederate  army.  Three  days  later  Mr. 
Forsyth,  of  Alabama,  and  Mr.  Crawford,  of  Georgia,  presented 
themselves  at  the  State  Department  in  "Washington,  in  the  atti- 
tude of  "  Confederate  Commissioners,"  with  the  pretended 
purpose  of  seeking  to  negotiate  a  treaty,  on  the  assumption  of 
representing  "  an  independent  nation  de  facto  and  de  jure" 
While  well  knowing,  both  from  the  nature  of  the  controversy, 
and  from  the  distinct  avowals  of  Mr.  Lincoln's  inaugural 
address,  that  this  preliminary  claim,  if  noticed  at  all,  would  be 
promptly  rejected,  and  passing  over  altogether  the  President's 
frank  and  honorable  suggestion  of  a  National  Convention,  in 
which  all  the  States  should  be  represented  and  all  grievances 
listened  to  and  constitutionally  adjusted,  they  presumed  to 
assert  that  the  persons  represented  by  them  "  earnestly  desire 
a  peaceful  solution"  of  the  "  great  questions  "  "  growing  out  of 
this  political  separation."  The  President  declined  all  recogni- 
tion of  these  negotiating  parties,  and,  with  a  simple  "  memo- 
randum "  of  Mr.  Seward,  apprising  them  of  this  fact,  was 


216  LIFE   OP   ABRAHAM    LINCOLN. 

inclosed  a  copy  of  the  inaugural  address,  to  which  they  were 
referred  for  the  views  controlling  the  Government,  and  which, 
in  fact,  had  undoubtedly  been  carefully  perused  by  them  before 
undertaking  this  false  mission,  intended  solely  for  diplomatic 
effect,  both  in  the  loyal  States  and  in  Europe. 

To  the  Government  this  dilatory  episode  gave  a  few  days  of 
much  needed  time  for  the  work  now  in  hand.  These  "  Com- 
missioners "  at  length  retired  from  Washington,  discharging 
their  Parthian  arrow,  in  the  shape  of  a  final  communication  to 
the  Secretary  of  State,  on  the  9th  of  April.  It  was  an  evidence 
of  that  forbearance  manifested  by  Mr.  Lincoln  through  all  the 
earliest  stages  of  this  conflict,  a  forbearance  the  value  of  which 
all  the  world  can  now  appreciate,  however  distasteful  to  more 
excitable  minds  at  the  time,  that  these  defiant  rebels  were  per- 
mitted to  return  to  their  homes,  instead  of  taking  their  well- 
earned  place  within  prison  walls. 

Five  weeks  and  more  had  now  passed  since  the  inauguration, 
and  the  situation  of  affairs  in  Fort  Sumter,  to  which  the  gallant 
Anderson  had  transferred  his  little  garrison  of  seventy  men 
from  Fort  Moultrie,  near  the  close  of  the  year,  portended  an 
approaching  crisis.  The  overt  act  of  war  had  long  since  been 
committed  by  the  Charleston  rebels,  in  firing  on  the  Star  of 
the  West  as  she  went  to  carry  relief  to  that  Fort,  on  which 
beleaguering  batteries,  not  before  unmasked,  were  already  pre- 
paring to  open.  The  supply  vessel  turned  back,  and  though 
nearly  two  months  had  passed  before  Mr.  Buchanan  vacated 
the  Presidential  chair,  his  Administration  was  permitted  to 
expire  without,  an  attempt  to  retrieve  that  humiliation. 

As  time  wore  on,  no  military  preparations,  as  yet,  being 
visible,  Messrs.  Forsyth  and  Crawford  being  known  to  be  still 
in  Washington,  without  any  thing  being  positively  disclosed  as 
to  the  character  of  their  intercourse  with  the  State  Department, 
and  those  persons  having  been  finally  permitted  to  depart,  with 
only  the  public  certainty  that  they  had  been  denied  ofiBcial 
recognition,  a  general  uneasiness  began  to  pervade  the  popular 
mind.  This  growing  discontent  was  fanned Jby  the  positive 
assertions  of  busy  quidnuncs  that  Fort  Sumter  was  to  be 
evacuated  in  obedience  to  the  demand  of  the  Charleston  traitors. 


LIFE   OP  ABRAHAM   LINCOLN.  217 

The  visit  of  Mr.  Fox  to  Major  Anderson  on  the  22d  day  of 
March,  afforded  little  relief  to  the  current  anxiety,  so  conflict- 
ing were  the  reports  as  to  the  purpose  of  his  mission.  The 
visit  of  still  another  supposed  agent  of  the  Government  to 
Charleston,  three  days  later,  was  generally  construed  unfa- 
vorably. Sanguine  and  nervous  people  were  beginning  to 
despond,  or  to  speak  openly  of  "  weakness  and  vacillation  "  on 
the  part  of  the  President.  It  was  only  those  who  did  not 
thoroughly  know  Mr.  Lincoln  who  could  seriously  have  doubted 
him  for  a  moment.  And  yet,  the  stranger  lingering  in  the 
capital  during  those  calm  yet  dubious  days  which  preceded  the 
outburst  of  a  storm,  every  moment's  delay  of  which  was  an 
incalculable  gain  to  the  Government,  would  almost  have  pro- 
nounced the  Administration  doomed  to  ignominious  failure,  to 
popular  repudiation,  such  as  a  counter-revolution  of  loyal  men 
in  the  North  must  inevitably  follow,  at  the  very  outset  of  its 
career. 

To  omit  to  record  this  state  of  things,  vividly  impressed  as 
it  must  be  on  the  mind  of  every  man  in  Washington,  who 
observed  events  from  the  outside,  would  be  to  leave  out  the 
most  striking  view  in  the  foreground  of  the  picture.  When 
taken  in  connection  with  subsequent  events,  it  would  also  be  as 
unjust  to  the  fame  of  President  Lincoln,  as  false  to  the  facts  of 
history. 

It  was  during  this  period  that  Mr.  Alexander  H.  Stephens, 
(who,  recreant  to  the  sterling  words  in  which,  a  few  short 
months  earlier,  he  had  denounced  this  insane  attempt  to  destroy 
the  best  Government  on  earth,  for  no  real  grievance  whatever, 
but  solely  to  gratify  and  revenge  the  thwarted  ambition  of 
defeated  politicians,  was  now  enjoying  the  mimic  honors  of  the 
"Confederate"  Vice  Presidency,)  delivered  a  remarkable  speech, 
ia  the  city  of  Savannah,  (March  21,)  which  must  also  have  its 
permanent  place  in  the  annals  of  the  time.  The  over-crowded 
audience,  the  enthusiastic  applause,  the  solemnities  of  the  occa- 
sion, and  the  known,  frank,  and  positive  character  of  the  man, 
all  combine  to  mark  this  utterance  as  a  genuine  reproduction  of 
the  thought  and  purpose  of  the  chief  conspirators,  and  their 
ready  followers,  at  this  hour.  Only  some  of  its  chief  points 
19 


218  LIFE    OP    ABRAHAM    LINCOLN. 

can  be  recalled  here,  as  showing  both  the  estimate  placed  upon 
Mr.  Lincoln's  official  action  hitherto,  and  the  real  animus  of  the 
rebellion,  when  relieved  of  the  disguises  which  Stephens  had 
already  stripped  off  in  his  anti-secession  speech  on  the  19th  of 
January,  in  the  Georgia  Convention. 

After  proceeding  at  some  length  to  point  out  the  "  Improve- 
ments "  he  discerned  in  the  Montgomery  Constitution  over  that 
which  the  seven  "Confederate  States"  had  repudiated,  Mr. 
Stephens  said : 

But  not  to  be  tedious  in  enumerating  the  numerous  changes 
for  the  better,  allow  me  to  allude  to  one  other — though  last, 
not  least :  The  new  Constitution  has  put  at  rest  forever  all  the 
agitating  questions  relating  to  our  peculiar  institutions — African 
slavery  as  it  exists  among  us — the  proper  status  of  the  negro  in 
our  form  of  civilization.  This  was  the  immediate  cause  of  the 
late  rupture  and  present  revolution.  Jefferson,  in  his  forecast, 
had  anticipated  this,  as  the  rock  upon  which  the  old  Union 
would  split.  He  was  right.  What  was  conjecture  with  him, 
13  now  a  realized  fact.  But  whether  he  fully  comprehended 
the  great  truth  upon  which  that  rock  stood  and  stands,  may  be 
doubted.  The  prevailing  ideas,  entertained  by  him  and  most  of 
the  leading  statesmen,  at  the  time  of  the  formation  of  the  old 
Constitution,  were,  that  the  enslavement  of  the  African  was  in 
violation  of  the  laws  of  nature;  that  it  was  WRONG  IN  PRINCI- 
PLE, SOCIALLY,  MORALLY  AND  POLITICALLY.  It  was  an  evil 

they  knew  not  well  how  to  deal  with  ;  but  the  general  opinion 
of  the  men  of  that  day  was,  that,  somehow  or  other,  in  the  order 
of  Providence,  (he  institution  would  l>e  evanescent  and  pass  away. 

Let  us  pause  here,  for  a  moment,  to  consider  this  distinct 
concession — truthful  in  every  word — as  to  the  views  of  Jeffer- 
son "  and  most  of  the  leading  statesmen"  of  the  Constitutional 
era.  How  perfectly  this  agrees  with  the  admission,  two  months 
earlier,  that  under  an  eminently  Southern  administration  of  the 
Government  under  the  Constitution,  for  a  long  period  of  years, 
the  South  had  no  grievance  whatever  to  complain  of!  Still 
more  striking  is  the  suggestion  which  this  passage  makes  of 
that  portion  of  Mr.  Lincoln's  celebrated  Springfield  speech, 
quoted  by  the  author  of  the  elaborate  paper,  in  imitation  of 
the  Declaration  of  Independence,  setting  forth  the  causes  of 
South  Carolina's  secession,  when  he  says  : 


LIFE   OF   ABRAHAM   LINCOLN.  219 

Observing  the  forms  of  the  Constitution,  a  sectional  party 
has  found  within  that  article  establishing  the  Executive  Depart- 
ment, the  means  of  subverting  the  Constitution  itself.  A 
geographical  line  has  been  drawn  across  the  Union,  and  all  the 
States  north  of  that  line  have  united  in  the  election  of  a  man 
to  the  high  office  of  President  of  the  United  States,  whose 
opinions  and  purposes  are  hostile  to  slavery.  He  is  to  be 
intrusted  with  the  administration  of  the  common  government, 
because  he  has  declared  that  that  "  Government  can  not  endure 
permanently  half  slave,  half  free,"  and  that  the  public  mind 
must  rest  in  the  belief  that  slavery  is  in  the  course  of  ultimate 
extinction. 

Setting  aside  the  special  pleading  and  inaccurate  statement 
of  the  South  Carolinian,  how  completely  is  he  answered  at 
every  point  by  the  Georgian,  who  had  already,  beyond  a  doubt, 
carefully  perused  the  former's  argument !  In  a  word,  Stephens 
fairly  and  honorably  concedes  that  the  exact  position  held  by 
Jefferson,  and  most  of  his  contemporary  statesmen,  in  regard 
to  slavery,  is  precisely  that  which  Mr.  Rhett,  even  in  his  less 
candid  effusion,  attributes  to  Mr.  Lincoln,  and  both  practically 
unite  in  bearing  testimony  to  the  following  clear  enunciation 
of  the  grand  spirit  and  purpose  of  the  rebellion,  as  stated  in 
his  Savannah  speech  by  Mr.  Stephens,  after  pronouncing  these 
ideas  of  Jefferson  and  his  contemporaries  to  be  "  fundamentally 
wrong,"  as  resting  "upon  the  assumption  of  the  equality  of 
races :" 

v-  x:  •js'i'  •-,  ,-.!••  nridS'-i   :1-' ••.•          "v"    .-:-.-";'=.  .^M 
Our  new  Government  is  founded  upon  exactly  the  opposite 

ideas.  Its  foundations  are  laid,  its  corner-stone  rests,  upon  the 
great  truth  that  the  negro  is  not  equal  to  the  white  man ;  that 
slavery,  subordination  to  the  superior  race,  is  his  natural  and 
normal  condition.  This,  our  new  Government,  is  the  first,  in 
the  history  of  the  world,  BASED  UPON  this  great  physical,  philo- 
sophical, and  moral  truth.  ******  It  is  upon 
this,  as  I  have  stated,  our  social  fabric  is  firmly  planted ;  and  I 
can  not  permit  myself  to  doubt  the  ultimate  success  of  a  full 
recognition  of  this  principle  throughout  the  civilized  and  en- 
lightened world.  *  *  *  *  This  stone  which  was  rejected 
by  the  first  builders,  "  it  become  the  chief  stone  of  the  corner"  in 
our  new  edifice. 


220  LIFE   OF   ABRAHAM   LINCOLN. 

Mr.  Stephens,  after  discussing  the  ability  of  the  seven  States 
already  banded  together  to  go  on  in  their  undertaking  without 
the  "  Border  States,"  and  the  hopes  and  wishes  entertained  in 
regard  to  the  latter,  goes  on  to  discuss  the  prospect  in  regard 
to  hostilities  with  the  National  Government,  as  follows  : 

As  to  whether  we  shall  have  war  with  our  late  confederates, 
or  whether  all  matters  of  difference  between  us  shall  be  amica- 
bly settled,  I  can  only  say  that  the  prospect  for  a  peaceful 
adjustment  is  better,  so  far  as  I  am  informed,  itian  it  has  been. 
The  prospect  of  war  is,  at  least,  not  so  threatening  as  it  has 
been.  The  idea  of  coercion,  shadowed  forth  in  Mr.  Lincoln's 
inaugural,  seems  not  to  be  followed  up,  thus  far,  so  vigorously  as 
was  expected.  Fort  Sumter,  it  is  believed,  will  soon  be  evacuated. 
What  course  will  be  pursued  toward  Fort  Pickens,  and  the 
other  forts  on  the  Gulf,  is  not  so  well  understood.  It  is  to  be 
greatly  desired  that  all  of  them  should  be  surrendered.  Our 
object  is  peace,  not  only  with  the  North,  but  with  the  world. 

*  *  *  The  idea  of  coercing  us,  or  subjugating  us,  is 
utterly  preposterous.  Whether  the  intention  of  evacuating 
Fort  Sumter  is  to  be  received  as  an  evidence  of  a  desire  for  a 
peaceful  solution  of  our  difficulties  with  the  United  States,  or 
the  result  of  necessity,  I  will  not  undertake  to  say.  I  would 
fain  hope  the  former.  Rumors  are  afloat,  however,  that  it  is 
the  result  of  necessity.  All  I  can  say  to  you,  therefore,  on  that 
point,  is,  keep  your  armor  bright,  and  your  powder  dry. 

That  Mr.  Stephens  well  understood  the  impossibility  of  peace 
on  the  only  terms  he  ventured  even  to  hint,  is  sufficiently  man- 
ifest, and  his  reporter  further  adds,  referring  to  a  later  part  of 
his  speech : 

He  alluded  to  the  difficulties  and  embarrassments  which 
seemed  to  surround  the  question  of  a  peaceful  solution  of  the 
controversy  with  the  old  Government.  How  can  it  be  done  ? 
is  perplexing  many  minds.  The  President  seems  to  think  that 
he  can  not  recognize  our  independence,  nor  can  he,  with  and  by 
the  advice  of  the  Senate,  do  so.  The  Constitution  makes  no  such 
provision.  A  general  convention  of  all  the  States  has  been  sug- 
gested by  some. 

He  closed  without  recommending  this,  or  any  other  practi- 
cable method  of  peace — which,  perhaps,  for  himself  ho  would 


LIFE   OP  ABRAHAM   LINCOLN.  221 

have  consented  to — well  knowing  that  quite  another  policy  was 
predetermined  by  conspirators  older  in  the  work  than  he,  and 
to  whose  scheme  he  had  already  undoubtedly  given  his  full 
consent. 

The  Rebels  saw  no  hope  but  in  war.  Any  thing  -short  of 
that  would  amount  only  to  a  brief  ebullition,  in  the  States  in 
which  insurrection  was  already  dominant.  Something  was  yet 
needed  to  "  fire  the  Southern  heart."  All  the  initiated  knew 
that  the  match  was  soon  to  be  applied  to  the  industriously  pre- 
pared train.  They  may  have  dreamed  of  the  surrender  of 
Sumter  or  Pickens  as  a  military  necessity ;  hut  they  little  under- 
stood the  purpose  of  the  President,  if  it  was  ever  thought  pos- 
sible on  any  other  ground.  They  certainly  greatly  mistook  his 
intentions,  in  either  event. 

It  must  be  remembered  that  the  close  of  the  last  Adminis- 
tration found,  still  in  the  office  of  the  Adjutant-General  of  the 
Army,  a  man  (General  Cooper)  who  now  holds  a  like  position 
in  the  Confederate  service.  The  Departments  and  the  city  were 
filled  with  men  of  like  sympathy,  whose  knowledge  of  affairs 
enabled  them  to  communicate  immediate  information  as  to  every 
movement  inaugurated,  and  even  of  the  avowed  purposes  or 
projects  of  every  high  officer  of  the  Government,  civil  or 
military.  Men  deemed  entirely  trustworthy  and  faithful,  even, 
were  afterward  found  to  have  been  in  complicity  with  the 
traitors,  and  not  a  few  holding  military  commissions — which 
could  not  he  revoked  without  positive  grounds — were  regarded 
as  doubtful.  For  a  time  it  was  uncertain  how  far  any  one — 
with  a  few  noble  exceptions — in  responsible  places,  in  Army  or 
Navy,  could  be  relied  on  for  a  cordial  support  of  any  efficient 
policy,  even  of  defense.  The  event  has  shown  how  well 
founded,  in  numerous  instances  beside  that  of  General  Cooper, 
was  this  distrust. 

Mr.  Lincoln  fully  appreciated  his  surroundings.  Disloyalty 
was  rampant  among  the  citizens  of  the  capital.  In  the  Depart- 
ments, or  just  relieved  therefrom,  were  men  who  watched  every 
move,  and  were  anxious  to  aid  the  rebellion.  The  sifting  pro- 
cess has  been  steadily  going  on,  yet  how  impossible  was  an 
immediate  purification,  is  manifest.  Under  all  the  circumstances 


222  LIFE   OP   ABRAHAM   LINCOLN. 

of  his  position,  the  President  had  no  resource  but  to  keep  his 
own  counsel.  Inexperienced  in  military  affairs,  he  had  the  ready 
advice  and  faithful  service  of  the  illustrious  head  of  the  Army, 
Lieutenant-General  Scott.  True  and  loyal  as  that  veteran 
General  was,  however,  his  political  sympathies  had  never  gone 
with  the  now  dominant  party,  while  his  Virginian  birth  and 
associations  led  him  to  shrink  from  every  appearance  of 
attempted  coercion.  It  is  no  secret  that  General  Scott  openly 
and  earnestly  advocated  the  evacuation  of  Fort  Suniter — on 
military,  if  not  also  on  political,  grounds.  It  is  believed  that 
he  carried  over  nearly  every  Cabinet  Minister  to  his  views. 
The  President,  while  adjusting  his  new  agencies,  and  learning 
the  spirit  of  the  men  about  him,  in  the  Army  and  in  the  Navy, 
as  well  as  awaiting,  with  attentive  eye,  the  developments  of 
opinion  and  action,  in  both  sections,  allowed  the  consideration 
of  this  question  to  be  continued,  from  day  to  day,  without 
indicating  his  purpose.  The  emissaries  who  waited  here  on 
their  false  diplomatic  mission  kept  duly  apprised,  through 
channels  easily  imaginable  after  what  has  since  transpired,  of 
the  opinions  of  General  Scott  and  the  deliberations  thereon. 
They  had  constantly  communicated  with  the  leaders  at  home, 
it  being  deemed  expedient  to  allow,  during  all  this  period,  free 
intercourse  by  mail  and  telegraph.  The  result  was  a  general 
impression  at  the  South — for  which  no  word  of  the  Chief 
Executive  ever  gave  any  warrant,  although  he  obviously  had  no 
occasion  to  correct  any  such  misconception — that  Fort  Sumter 
was  to  be  evacuated,  and  that  no  attempt  would  be  made  to 
reinforce  Fort  Pickens. 

The  parting  missive  of  these  pseudo-diplomats,  on  the  9th 
of  April,  makes  the  following  statement  on  this  point  (addressed 
to  Mr.  Seward): 

The  memorandum  [of  the  Secretary  of  State,  before  referred 
toj  is  dated  March  15,  and  was  not  delivered  until  April  8. 
Why  was  it  withheld  during  the  intervening  twenty-three  days  ? 
In  the  postscript  to  your  memorandum  you  say  it  "  was  delayed, 
as  was  understood,  with  their  (Messrs.  Forsyth  and  Crawford's) 
consent."  This  is  true;  but  it  is  also  true  that,  on  the  15th  of 
March,  Messrs.  Forsyth  and  Crawford  were  assured  by  a  person  occu- 


LIFE   OP   ABRAHAM   LINCOLN.  223 

pying  a  high  official  position  in  the  Government,  and  who,  as  they 
believed,  was  speaking  by  authority,  that  Fort  Sumter  would  be 
evacuated  within  a  very  few  days,  and  that  no  measure  changing 
the  existing  status,  prejudicially  to  the  Confederate  States,  as 
respects  Fort  Pickens,  was  then  contemplated,  and  these  assur- 
ances were  subsequently  repeated,  with  the  addition  that  any 
contemplated  change,  as  respects  Pickens,  would  be  notified  to 
its.  On  the  1st  of  April  we  were  again  informed  that  there 
might  be  an  attempt  to  supply  Fort  Sumter  with  provisions,  but 
that  Governor  Pickens  should  have  previous  notice  of  the 
attempt.  There  was  no  suggestion  of  reinforcements.  The 
undersigned  did  not  hesitate  to  believe  that  these  assurances 
expressed  tlie  intentions  of  the  Administration  at  the  time,  or,  at 
all  events,  of  prominent  members  of  that  Administration.  This 
delay  was  assented  to,  for  the  express  purpose  of  attaining  the 
great  end  of  the  mission  of  the  undersigned,  to-wit :  A  pacific 
solution  of  existing  complications.  *  *  *  The  intervening 
twenty-three  days  were  employed  in  active  unofficial  efforts,  the 
object  of  which  was  to  smooth  the  path  to  a  pacific  solution, 
the  distinguished  personage  alluded  to  cooperating  with  the  under- 
signed ;  and  every  step  of  that  effort  is  recorded  in  writing,  and 
now  in  possession  of  the  undersigned  and  of  their  Government. 
*  *  *  *  It  is  proper  to  add  that,  during  these  twenty- 
three  days,  two  gentlemen  of  official  distinction,  as  high  as  that 
of  the  personage  hitherto  alluded  to,  aided  the  undersigned  as 
intermediaries  in  these  unofficial  negotiations  for  peace. 

Without  stopping  to  inquire  how  far  the  veracity  of  a  docu- 
ment, conceived  in  such  a  spirit  and  designed  for  immediate 
effect,  North  and  South,  is  to  be  implicitly  relied  on,  it  is 
enough  to  say  that,  by  its  very  terms,  this  paper  shows  clearly 
that  neither  the  President,  nor  any  one  authorized  in  any  man- 
ner to  speak  for  him,  ever  gave  the  assurances  stated,  even  in 
unofficial  intercourse.  If  these  conspirators  were  deceived  by 
"  intermediaries,"  holding  responsible  places  in  the  Govern- 
ment, yet  so  abusing  the  confidence  of  their  superiors  as  to 
communicate  their  military  plans  to  the  emissaries  of  rebels 
who  had  already  levied  war  against  the  Government,  and  fired 
upon  its  flag,  it  is  manifest  that  neither  Mr.  Lincoln  nor  his 
Constitutional  advisers  need  regret  the  deception.  The  Presi- 
dent, however,  it  is  proper  distinctly  to  state,  never  had  the 


224  LIFE   OF   ABRAHAM    LINCOLN. 

slightest  knowledge  of  the  communications  alleged,  if  they 
ever  took  place. 

It  should  also  he  definitely  stated  here,  that  Mr.  Lincoln 
(whatever  military  or  civil  advisers  may  have  imagined)  never 
seriously  entertained  the  purpose  of  peaceably  and  voluntarily 
abandoning  any  Government  fortifications  or  property.  Much 
less  was  he  prepared  to  leave  the  gallant  garrisons  of  Fortd 
Surnter  and  Pickens  to  starvation  or  humiliating  surrender. 

As  early  as  the  18th  of  March,  General  Bragg,  then  in  com- 
mand of  the  Confederate  forces  at  Pensacola,  issued  his  order 
cutting  off  supplies  of  every  kind  from  Fort  Pickens  as  well  as 
from  the  "  armed  vessels  of  the  United  States,"  then  in  the 
harbor — a  military  step  toward  the  reduction  of  the  fort,  in 
marked  contrast  with  the  pacific  professions  and  affected  good 
faith  set  forth  in  the  Rebel  document  just  quoted  from.  An 
intention  -of  precipitating  more  active  hostilities  there  was 
plainly  indicated  by  the  insurgents,  and  the  necessity  of  deci- 
sive action  on  the  part  of  the  Government  was  apparent.  A 
small  fleet,  of  eight  vessels,  was  got  in  readiness  with  all  pos- 
sible expedition,  (including  the  two  sloops-of-war,  Pawnee  and 
Powhatan,  with  transports  carrying  troops  and  supplies,)  the 
first  of  which  set  sail  from  the  Washington  Navy-Yard  on  th« 
6th  of  April,  and  the  remainder  during  the  next  three  days. 
The  orders  were  sealed,  but  the  movement  could  not  be  alto- 
gether a  secret.  In  fact,  it  seems  to  have  been  almost  immedi- 
ately known  at  the  headquarters  of  secession  in  the  South. 
While  a  portion  of  this  fleet  paused  off  Charleston  harbor,  the 
remainder  saved  Fort  Pickens  by  a  timely  reinforcement. 

On  the  7th  of  April,  General  Beauregard,  at  Charleston, 
followed  his  co-laborer  at  Pensacola,  and  issued  an  order,  notice 
of  which  was  sent  to  Major  Anderson,  prohibiting  further 
intercourse  between  that  fort  and  the  city.  This  was  another 
military  step,  backed  by  the  rapid  concentration  of  Rebel  troops 
at  Charleston,  toward  compelling  the  surrender  of  Fort  Suinter. 
It  left  no  course  to  the  Government  short  of  furnishing  supplies 
to  the  garrison  of  that  sea-girt  fort.  And  how  careful  the  Presi- 
dent was,  from  the  outset,  to  avoid,  so  far  as  was  possible,  every 
act  that  might  even  unwarrantably  provoke  a  collision  of  arms, 


LIFE   OP   ABRAHAM   LINCOLN.  225 

is  well  illustrated  in  this  instance.  On  the  8th  of  April — the 
day  after  Beauregard's  hostile  order — the  President  caused  the 
parties  interested  at  Charleston  to  be  officially  informed  that 
provisions  were  to  be  dispatched  to  Major  Anderson  by  an 
unarmed  vessel.  It  is  easy  to  see  on  which  side  the  true 
pacific  purpose  lay.  The  act  of  war,  commenced  by  firing  on 
the  Star  of  the  West,  in  January,  was  renewed  by  Beauregard 
in  the  attempt  to  starve  out  Major  Anderson.  This  renewal, 
again,  was  met  by  the  mere  effort  to  supply,  in  a  peaceable  way, 
the  rations  of  a  garrison  that  could  not4hus  be  abandoned. 

Beauregard  at  once  communicated  the  movement,  thus  offi- 
cially explained,  to  the  Rebel  Secretary  of  War,  and,  under 
special  instructions,  received  April  10th,  demanded,  on  the  fol- 
lowing day,  the  surrender  of  Fort  Sumter — the  indisputable 
property  of  the  Federal  Government,  the  right  of  domain  and 
jurisdiction  over  which  had  been  expressly  and  solemnly 
granted  to  that  Government  by  the  uncancelled  vote  of  South 
Carolina  herself.  The  demand  was  courteously  refused.  Major 
Anderson  was  again  called  on  to  name  a  time  at  which  he  would 
evacuate  the  fort,  meanwhile  committing  no  hostile  act.  That 
officer  replied,  on  the  12th,  that  he  would,  "  if  provided  with 
the  proper  and  necessary  means  of  transportation,  evacuate 
Fort  Sumter  by  noon  on  the  15th  instant,"  should  he  not 
"  receive,  prior  to  that  time,  controlling  instructions"  from  the 
Government,  "  or  additional  supplies."  To  this  eminently 
peaceful  and  reasonable  proposition,  the  reply  was  returned 
that  the  commandant  of  "  the  provisional  forces  of  the  Confed- 
erate States  "  would  open  the  fire  of.  his  batteries  on  Fort 
Sumter  in  one  hour  from  the  date  of  this  "  pacific  "  message, 
"April  12,  1861,  2:30  A.  M."  This  "  Confederate"  assurance 
accorded  with  the  result.  After  enduring  the  long-continued 
fire  of  numerous  batteries,  Anderson  and  his  garrison  of 
seventy  men  were  compelled  to  surrender  the  fort  to  Beaure- 
gard and  his  seven  thousand  rebels  in.  arms. 

Thus  began  in  dread  earnest,  by  a  clearly  unwarrantable  and ' 
unprovoked  act,  following  repeated  protestations  of  a  desire  for 
a  "  peaceable  solution"  of  troubles  resulting  solely  from  the 
constitutional  election  of  a  President,  confessedly  standing  on 


226  LIFE  OF  ABRAHAM   LINCOLN. 

the  same  platform,  in  regard  to  special  Southern  interests,  as 
Jefferson,  and  most  of  the  founders  of  the  Government,  a  civil 
war,  designed  to  establish  a  new  Government  on  the  chief  cor- 
ner-stone of  slavery,  and  to  revolutionize  the  opinions  of  the 
civilized  world  in  regard  to  that  system.  Whatever  could  be 
done  to  avert  this  final  step,  was  patiently,  kindly,  sincerely 
done  by  Abraham  Lincoln.  All  truthful  history  will  record 
this  of  him,  through  all  ages,  to  his  lasting  praise.  No  rough 
passion,  no  fretful  impatience,  no  revengeful  impulse,  ever 
ruffled  his  spirit  during  all  these  days  of  suspense.  But  the 
gauntlet  was  at  length  thrown  down,  and  no  alternative  was 
left  but  to  meet  force  with  force. 


LIFE   OP   ABRAHAM    LINCOLN.  227 


CHAPTER  II. 

The  Loyal  Uprising.— The  Border  Slave  States. — Summary  of  Events. 
Battle  of  Bull  Run. 

THE  first  effect  of  the  fall  of  Fort  Sumter  was  to  silence,  for 
the  time,  all  opposition  to  the  President  in  the  Free  States. 
One  sentiment  was  uppermost  in  the  minds  of  all  loyal  people — 
that  of  indignation  at  the  authors  of  the  war,  now  inaugu- 
rated at  Charleston,  mingled  with  the  purpose  of  vindicating 
the  National  Flag,  and  of  restoring  the  legitimate  authority  of 
the  Government  in  all  the  States.  Wherever  a  contrary  feeling 
existed,  the  strong  manifestations  of  popular  enthusiasm  for 
the  Government  caused  such  treachery  to  be  carefully  dis- 
guised. For  once,  the  people  of  the  Free  States  were  a  unit  in 
action.  The  demand  for  vigorous  preparation  to  protect  the 
National  Capital,  and  to  suppress  the  insurrection,  was  univer- 
sal. Simultaneously  with  this  development  of  loyalty,  Mr. 
Lincoln  prepared  his  proclamation  of  April  15th,  calling  on 
the  States  for  their  several  proportions  of  an  army  of  seventy- 
five  thousand  men.  He  also,  in  the  same  paper,  called  an 
extra  session  of  Congress,  to  commence  on  the  4th  day  of  July 
following. 

A  like  unanimity  had  been  hoped  by  the  conspirators  in 
every  Slave  State.  It  was,  perhaps,  chiefly  in  order  to  produce 
this  effect,  that  the  responsibility  of  beginning  the  war  was 
assumed  by  the  Rebel  leaders.  As  yet  the  seven  States  which 
had  originally  entered  into  the  Confederacy  at  Montgomery  had 
received  no  accessions  from  the  eight  remaining  States,  sup- 
posed to  have  a  common  interest  with  them,  from  a  common 
peculiarity  of  institutions.  On  the  very  next  day  after  that 
combination  was  entered  into  (February  9),  the  people  of  Ten- 
nessee had  voted  against  secession,  by  a  large  majority.  On  the 


228  LIFE   OF  ABRAHAM  LINCOLN. 

1st  day  of  March  a  similar  vote  had  been  taken  in  Missouri. 
On  the  4th  day  of  April,  a  secession  ordinance  had  been 
rejected  in  the  State  Convention  of  Virginia,  by  a  vote  of  45 
yeas  and  89  nays.  In  Maryland,  the  firmness  and  earnest  loy- 
alty of  Gov.  Hicks  had  defeated  all  the  schemes  for  assem- 
bling a  convention  in  that  State  to  consider  the  question  of  seces- 
sion. Delaware  had  manifested  a  decided  Union  spirit,  and  the 
canvass  on  this  question  in  Arkansas  had  thus  far  developed 
a  strong  disinclination  to  embark  in  the  disunion  scheme  of 
Davis  and  his  fellow-conspirators.  In  North  Carolina  and 
Kentucky,  all  the  efforts  to  seduce  the  people  into  rebellion 
appeared  to  have  been  of  little  avail.  Thus,  with  two  tiers  of 
Slave  States  extending  from  the  Atlantic  to  the  Mississippi, 
two  west  of  the  Mississippi,  and  the  two  north-east  of  Vir- 
ginia, a  majority  of  all,  having  many  interests  diverse  from 
those  of  the  Cotton  States,  now  nominally  confederated  in  the 
crimes  of  their  leaders,  the  rebellion  was  manifestly  doomed 
from  the  outset,  if  peace  and  the  opportunity  for  calm  deliber- 
ation were  allowed. 

The  rebels  undoubtedly  wished  to  avoid  the  lasting  odium 
of  bringing  on  a  desolating  and  destructive  civil  war.  They 
saw  clearly,  however,  whither  the  quiet  and  pacific  policy  of 
the  Administration  was  tending.  Not  another  State  would  join 
the  Secession  movement,  if  that  policy  were  permitted  to  con- 
tinue. From  the  1st  day  of  February  to  the  fall  of  Sumter — 
two  months  and  a  half — not  a  State  had  joined  the  movement, 
and  two,  on  the  immediate  border  of  the  Cotton  States,  had 
deliberately  rejected  the  proposition,  although  the  State  Gov- 
ernments of  both  were  in  the  hands  of  active  Secessionists. 
The  fatal  blow — a  necessity  to  the  mad  project  in  hand — was 
accordingly  struck.  The  immediate  object  was  to  gain  over 
the  remaining  Slave  States,  and  naturally,  as  second  only  to 
the  preparation  for  war,  the  course  to  be  pursued  by  those  States 
became  an  object  of  chief  interest. 

The  necessity  of  at  once  gaining  over  Virginia  to  the  Seces- 
sion side,  in  order  to  the  prosecution  of  their  plans,  was  now 
manifest  to  the  leading  conspirators  at  Montgomery  and  Rich- 
mond. The  Convention  of  that  State,  as  already  seen,  had 


LIFE   OF   ABRAHAM   LINCOLN.  22!) 

hitherto  proved  intractable.  In  electing  that  body,  the  people 
had  decided  for  the  Union  by  a  very  large  majority.  What 
show  or  pretense  of  right,  even  on  Secession  principles,  had 
these  representatives  to  repudiate  alike  the  clearly  expressed 
wishes  of  their  constituents  and  their  own  personal  pledges? 
In  the  hope  of  gaining  some  plausible  pretext  for  such  an  act 
of  double  perfidy,  to  be  used  in  connection  with  threats  rapidly 
growing  into  a  reign  of  terror,  a  committee  of  three  was 
appointed  by  the  Convention,  just  at  the  time  of  the  impending 
attack  on  Fort  Sumter,  to  wait  on  the  President,  avowedly  to 
ascertain  his  intended  policy  toward  the  rebellious  States.  Mr. 
Lincoln  granted  this  committee  an  interview  on  the  13th  of 
April,  and  gave  them  the  subjoined  response  : 

To  Hon.  Messrs.  PRESTON,  STUART  and  RANDOLPH — Gen- 
tlemen :  As  a  committee  of  the  Virginia  Convention,  now  in 
session,  you  present  me  a  preamble  and  resolution  in  these 
words : 

"  WHEREAS,  In  the  opinion  of  this  Convention,  the  uncer- 
tainty which  prevails  in  the  public  mind  as  to  the  policy  which 
the  Federal  Executive  intends  to  pursue  toward  the  seceded 
States,  is  extremely  injurious  to  the  industrial  and  commercial 
interests  of  the  country,  tends  to  keep  up  an  excitement  which 
is  unfavorable  to  the  adjustment  of  the  pending  difficulties,  and 
threatens  a  disturbance  of  the  public  peace  ;  therefore, 

"Resolved,  That  a  committee  of  three^  delegates  be  appointed 
to  wait  on  the  President  of  the  United  States,  present  to  him 
this  preamble,  and  respectfully  ask  him  to  communicate  to  this 
Convention  the  policy  which  the  Federal  Executive  intends  to 
pursue  in  regard  to  the  Confederate  States." 

In  answer  I  hav£  to  say,  that  having,  at  the  beginning  of 
my  official  term,  expressed  my  intended  policy  as  plainly  as  I 
was  able,  it  is  with  deep  regret  and  mortification  I  now  learn 
there  is  great  and  injurious  uncertainty  in  the  public  mind  as 
to  what  that  policy  is,  and  what  course  I  intend  to  pursue.  Not 
having  as  yet  seen  occasion  to  change,  it  is  now  my  purpose  to 
pursue  the  course  marked  out  in  the  inaugural  address.  I  com- 
mend a  careful  consideration  of  the  whole  document  as  the 
best  expression  I  can  give  to  my  purposes.  As  I  then  and 
therein  said,  I  now  repeat,  "  The  power  confided  in  me  will  be 
u^ed  to  hold,  occupy,  and  possess  property  and  places  belong- 
ing to  the  Government,  and  to  collect  the  duties  and  imports  ; 
but  beyond  what  is  necessary  for  these  objects  there  will  be  no 


230  LIFE   OP   ABRAHAM   LINCOLN. 

invasion,  no  using  of  force  against  or  among  the  people  any- 
where." By  the  -words  "  property  and  places  belonging  to  the 
Government,"  I  chiefly  allude  to  the  military  posts  and  prop- 
erty -which  were  in  possession  of  the  Government  when  it  came 
into  my  hands.  But  if,  as  now  appears  to  be  true,  in  pursuit 
of  a  purpose  to  drive  the  United  States  authorities  from  these 
places,  an  unprovoked  assault  has  been  made  upon  Fort  Sumter, 
I  shall  hold  myself  at  liberty  to  repossess  it,  if  I  can,  like 

S  laces  which  had  been  seized  before  the  Government  was 
evolved  upon  me  ;  and  in  any  event  I  shall,  to  the  best  of  my 
ability,  repel  force  by  force.  In  case  it  proves  true  that  Fort 
Sumter  has  been  assaulted,  as  is  reported,  I  shall,  perhaps, 
cause  the  United  States  mails  to  be  withdrawn  from  all  the 
States  which  claim  to  have  seceded,  believing  that  the  com- 
mencement of  actual  war  against  the  Government  justifies  and 
possibly  demands  it.  I  scarcely  need  to  say  that  I  consider  the 
military  posts  and  property  situated  within  the  States  which 
claim  to  have  seceded,  as  yet  belonging  to  the  Government  of 
the  United  States  as  much  as  they  did  before  the  supposed 
secession.  Whatever  else  I  may  do  for  the  purpose,  I  shall 
not  attempt  to  collect  the  duties  and  imposts  by  any  armed 
invasion  of  any  part  of  the  country  ;  not  meaning  by  this,  how- 
ever, that  I  may  not  land  a  force  deemed  necessary  to  relieve  a 
fort  upon  the  border  of  the  country.  From  the  fact  that  I  have 
quoted  a  part  of  the  inaugural  address,  it  must  not  be  inferred 
that  I  repudiate  any  other  part,  the  whole  of  which  I  reaffirm, 
except  so  far  as  what  I  now  say  of  the  mails  may  be  regarded 
as  a  modification. 

The  Governors  of  Virginia  and  Kentucky,  thoroughly  in 
fellowship  with  the  South  Carolina  policy  from  the  outset, 
promptly  sent  back  defiant  messages  in  response  to  the  Presi- 
dent's call  for  troops.  "Kentucky  will  furnish  no  troops,"  said 
Governor  Magoffin,  "  for  the  wicked  purpose  of  subduing  her 
sister  Southern  States."  "  The  militia  of  Virginia,"  wrote 
Letcher  to  Secretary  Cameron,  "  will  not  be  furnished  to  the 
powers  at  Washington  for  any  such  use  or  purpose  as  they  have 
in  view."  Similar  was  the  reply  of  Governor  Harris,  of  Ten- 
nessee. Governor  Ellis,  of  North  Carolina,  with  greater  mod- 
eration in  his  language,  plainly  intimated  his  purpose  not  to 
respond  to  the  President's  call.  On  the  17th,  the  Virginia 
Convention,  yielding  at  length  to  the  artifices  and  intimidations 
of  the  busy  conspirators,  in  whose  service  an  ignorant  mob  wa? 


LIFE   OF   ABRAHAM   LINCOLN.  231 

conspicuous,  passed,  in  the  darkness  of  a  secret  conclave,  an 
ordinance  of  secession.  The  processes  resorted  to  for  the  ac- 
complishment of  this  object  were  yet  insufficient  to  move  many 
honorable  delegates  from  their  fidelity,  but  the  fatal  majority 
was  obtained.  Although  there  was  still  to  be,  nominally,  a 
vote  of  the  people  on  this  question,  on  the  23d  of  May,  Union 
sentiments  were  no  longer  tolerated  at  Richmond.  Violence 
and  terror  insured  a  majority  for  the  insurrection  in  a  State 
which,  on  a  fair  vote,  would  still  have  pronounced  emphatically 
against  secession. 

The  conspirators  in  North  Carolina  also  triumphed,  as  was 
to  be  expected  after  this  defection,  and  Tennessee  and  Arkan- 
sas followed.  Thus  four  States  were  gained  to  the  "  Confed- 
eracy"— by  no  means  through  a  fair  or  honest  vote — as  a  result 
of  the  war  begun  in  Charleston  harbor.  The  desperate  efforts 
to  win  over  Delaware,  Maryland,  Kentucky  and  Missouri, 
utterly  failed,  as  would  have  been  the  case  with  the  other  four 
States,  just  named,  had  the  pacific  policy  of  the  "Administration 
been  permitted  to  continue. 

The  week  following  the  President's  proclamation  was 
crowded  with  important  events.  Public  meetings  were  held 
all  through  the  loyal  States,  and  the  response  to  the  call  for 
troops  was  hearty  and  universal.  Companies  and  regiments 
were  rapidly  filled  up  and  started  for  the  National  Capital. 
But  a  few  hours  intervened  before  Massachusetts  had  one  regi- 
ment at  its  rendezvous,  and  ready  for  departure.  Pennsylvania 
and  New  York  were  on  the  alert,  and  a  battalion  of  volunteers, 
from  the  former  State,  were  the  first  to  reach  Washington, 
while  the  New  York  Seventh  was  at  nearly  the  same  time  on 
its  way.  The  spirit  already  roused  throughout  the  country 
was  greatly  intensified  by  the  attempts  of  a  secession  mob  in 
Baltimore  to  prevent  the  passage  of  the  Massachusetts  Sixth- 
through  that  city.  Here  the  first  blood  of  Union  troops  was 
?hed,  on  an  ever  memorable  anniversary,  the  19th  day  of  April. 
Enlistments  followed  with  such  rapidity,  that  it  was  soon  only  a 
question  whose  services  should  be  declined,  of  the  tens  of  thou- 
sands offering  themselves. 

The  city  of  Washington,  an  object  of  threatened  attack,  and 


232  LIFE   OF   ABRAHAM   LINCOLN. 

thronged  with  people,  who  either  openly  proclaimed  their  hos- 
tility to  the  Government,  or  were  of  doubtful  fidelity,  was  full 
of  excitement — liable  at  any  moment  to  an  emeute  or  to  an 
irruption  of  rebel  troops  already  in  the  field  in  Virginia. 
Alexandria  was  in  their  possession,  or  easily  accessible  at  any 
moment  from  Richmond.  Rumors  were  current  of  an  immedi- 
ate intention  on  the  part  of  the  Confederate  leaders  to  occupy 
Arlington  Heights,  completely  commanding  the  city,  while  as 
yet  only  a  few  companies  of  the  regular  service,  with  two  or 
three  light  field  batteries,  were  in  Washington  for  its  defense. 
To  these  were  added  a  few  hundred  volunteer  militia,  made  up 
chiefly  of  transient  sojourners  at  the  Capital.  A  few  dragoons, 
with  a  detachment  of  artillery,  guarded  the  Long  Bridge,  and 
the  Navy  Yard  and  other  portions  of  the  city  had  a  small 
guard  of  extemporized  infantry.  There  was  also  a  single  com- 
pany of  sappers  and  miners,  under  Lieut,  (now  General) 
Weitzel.  Thus  passed  an  anxious  week,  while  every  exertion 
was  made  by  the  Government  and  its  loyal  supporters  to  assem- 
ble an  adequate  defensive  force.  How  easily  the  place  might 
have  been  taken,  with  not  one  of  the  present  numerous  and 
strong  fortifications,  with  no  army  but  half  a  dozen  scattered 
companies  of  infantry,  cavalry  and  artillery,  and  with  so  large 
a  number  within  ready  to  rise  and  give  active  welcome  to  the 
assailing  force  they  so  eagerly  expected,  need  not  here  be  dis- 
cussed. From  one  extremity  of  the  country  to  the  other,  the 
danger  was  seen  and  felt.  The  few  days  needful,  fortunately 
were  gained. 

The  19th  of  April  is  further  memorable  for  the  proclamation 
issued  on  that  day,  declaring  a  blockade  of  every  port  cf  the 
States  in  insurrection,  in  the  following  terms  : 

WHEREAS,  An  insurrection  against  the  Government  of  the 
United  States  has  broken  out  in  the  States  of  South  Carolina, 
Georgia,  Alabama,  Florida,  Mississippi,  Louisiana  and  Texas, 
and  the  laws  of  the  United  States  for  the  collection  of  the  reve- 
nue can  not  be  efficiently  executed  therein  conformably  to  that 
provision  of  the  Constitution  which  requires  duties  to  be  uni- 
form throughout  the  United  States  : 

AND  WHEREAS,  A  combination  of  persons,  engaged  in  such 


LIFE   OP   ABRAHAM   LINCOLN.  233 

insurrection,  have  threatened  to  grant  pretended  letters  of 
marque  to  authorize  the  bearers  thereof  to  commit  assaults  on 
the  lives,  vessels,  and  property  of  good  citizens  of  the  country 
lawfully  engaged  in  commerce  on  the  high  seas,  and  in  waters 
of  the  United  States : 

AND  WHEREAS,  An  Executive  Proclamation  has  already  been 
issued,  requiring  the  persons  engaged  in  these  disorderly  pro- 
ceedings to  desist  therefrom,  calling  out  a  militia  force  for  the 
purpose  of  repressing  the  same,  and  convening  Congress  in 
extraordinary  session  to  deliberate  and  determine  thereon  : 

Now,  therefore,  I,  Abraham  Lincoln,  President  of  the  United 
States,  with  a  view  to  the  same  purposes  before  mentioned,  and 
to  the  protection  of  the  public  peace,  and  the  lives  and  property 
of  quiet  and  orderly  citizens  pursuing  their  lawful  occupations, 
until  Congress  shall  have  assembled  and  deliberated  on  the  said 
unlawful  proceedings,  or  until  the  same  shall  have  ceased,  have 
further  deemed  it  advisable  to  set  on  foot  a  blockade  of  the 
ports  within  the  States  aforesaid,  in  pursuance  of  the  laws  of 
the  United  States,  and  of  the  laws  of  nations  in  such  cases  pro- 
vided. For  this  purpose  a  competent  force  will  be  posted  so 
as  to  prevent  entrance  and  exit  of  vessels  from  the  ports  afore- 
said. If,  therefore,  with  a  view  to  violate  such  blockade,  a 
vessel  shall  approach,  or  shall  attempt  to  leave  any  of  the  said 
ports,  she  will  be  duly  warned  by  the  commander  of  one  of  the 
blockading  vessels,  who  will  indorse  on  her  register  the  fact 
and  date  of  such  warning  ;  and  if  the  same  vessel  shall  again 
attempt  to  enter  or  leave  the  blockaded  port,  she  will  be  cap- 
tured and  sent  to  the  nearest  convenient  port,  for  such  proceed- 
ings against  her  and  her  cargo  as  prize  as  may  be  deemed 
advisable. 

And  I  hereby  proclaim  and  declare,  that  if  any  person,  under 
the  pretended  authority  of  said  States,  or  under  any  other  pre- 
tense, shall  molest  a  vessel  of  the  United  States,  or  the  persons 
or  cargo  on  board  of  her,  such  person  will  be  held  amenable 
to  the  laws  of  the  United  States  for  the  prevention  and  punish- 
ment of  piracy. 

By  the  President :  ABRAHAM  LINCOLN. 

WILLIAM  H.  SEWARD,  Secretary  of  State. 

Washington,  April  19,  1801.  " 

Intelligence  having  been  received  that  Virginia  troops  were 
marching  on  Harper's  Ferry,  to  take  possession  of  the  import- 
ant Government  property  there,  the  public  works  were 
destroyed  and  the  place  evacuated  by  Lieut.  Jones,  the  com- 
mandant. Almost  simultaneously  the  Fourth  Massachusetts 
20 


234  LIFE   OF   ABRAHAM   LINCOLN. 

Regiment,  dispatched  by  wise  forethought,  arrived  at  Fortress 
Monroe  (soon  after  reinforced  by  the  First  Vermont,  under 
Col.  Phelps),  and  secured  a  permanent  occupation  of  that 
strong  position  in  the  Old  Dominion,  which  had  now  become 
(without  waiting  for  the  consummation  of  the  farce  of  a  pop- 
ular vote  under  duress)  the  eighth  State  of  the  Rebel  Confed- 
eracy. 

During  this  brief  period — at  the  close  of  a  week  of  unpre- 
cedented excitement  at  Washington  and  of  loyal  enthusiasm 
throughout  the  country — earnest  appeals  were  made  to  the 
President  by  prominent  Marylanders  to  stop  all  attempts  to 
transport  troops  through  that  State  to  the  National  Capital. 
His  prompt  reply  set  all  such  petitions  at  rest.  The  usual 
thoroughfares,  meanwhile,  had  been  obstructed.  Treason  hoped 
the  work  was  already  accomplished,  and  relief  cut  off.  Timor- 
ous or  hesitating  men  feared  that  the  effort  would  be  useless. 
But  the  purpose  of  Mr.  Lincoln  was  not  for  an  instant  shaken. 
The  route  by  Annapolis  was  opened  by  Gen.  Butler  and  his 
Massachusetts  force,  and  on  the  25th  of  April  troops  from  the 
North  began  to  pour  into  Washington,  relieving  all  immediate 
anxiety.  The  people  had  nobly  responded.  The  "  great  up- 
rising "  was  an  assured  event. 

Toward  the  veteran  Lieutenant-General  of  the  Army  all 
eyes  were  turned  as  the  fit  organizer  and  leader  of  the  Govern- 
ment forces.  His  counsels  were  potent,  necessarily,  in  the  for- 
mation of  plans  suited  to  the  juncture.  Compelled  to  resort  to 
force  by  armed  aggressive  rebellion,  the  foremost  purpose  was 
strictly  a  defensive  one.  To  protect  the  capital  first  of  all — 
for  in  the  flush  of  triumph  over  the  reduction  of  Fort  Sumter, 
the  determination  to  take  Washington,  a  city  surrounded  by 
territory  claimed  as  destined  to  form  part  of  the  Confederacy, 
was  boldly  avowed,  alike  by  the  Rebel  Secretary  of  War  and  by 
the  organs  of  public  opinion  every -where  in  the  insurrectionary 
States — was  the  object  aimed  at  by  the  President,  and  ener- 
getically undertaken  by  Gen.  Scott.  Secondary  to  this,  and 
a  labor  for  the  future,  was  the  reoccupation  and  re-possession 
of  Federal  forts  and  Federal  property  already  seized  by  the 
Rebels,  and  the  retention  of  such  as  were  threatened,  as 


LIFE   OP  ABRAHAM  LINCOLN.  235 

distinctly  promised  by  the  President  in  his  inaugural  address — 
forcibly  now,  since  the  peaceable  alternative  was  no  longer  pos- 
sible. The  blockade  by  sea,  and  a  defensive  campaign  by  land, 
were  the  immediate  steps  recommended  by  the  General-in- 
Chief  and  adopted  by  the  Administration. 

On  the  27th  of  April  the  following  announcement  of  new 
Military  Departments  and  Commanders  was  made  by  Adj.- 
Gen.  Thomas:  1.  The  Department  of  Washington,  including 
the  District  of  Columbia,  according  to  its  original  boundary, 
Fort  Washington  and  the  adjacent  country,  and  the  State  of 
Maryland  as  far  as  Bladensburgh,  inclusive ;  under  the  com- 
mand of  Gen.  Joseph  K.  F.  Mansfield — headquarters  at  Wash- 
ington. 2.  The  Department  of  Annapolis,  including  the  coun- 
try for  twenty  miles  on  each  side  of  the  railroad  from  Annapolis 
to  the  city  of  Washington,  as  far  as  Bladensburgh ;  under  the 
command  of  Gen.  B.  F.  Butler — headquarters  at  Annapolis. 
3.  The  Department  of  Pennsylvania,  including  that  State,  the 
State  of  Delaware,  and  all  of  the  SUte  of  Maryland  not 
embraced  within  the  Departments  first  named ;  under  command 
of  Gen.  Robert  Patterson — headquarters  at  Philadelphia, 
"  or  any  other  point  he  may  temporarily  occupy."  This  organ- 
ization of  Departments  indicates  the  field  of  contemplated 
military  operations  in  the  East.  The  Department  of  Wash- 
ington extended  no  further  southward  than  the  old  limits  of 
the  District  of  Columbia,  an  extension  into  Virginia  only  for 
the  obvious  purpose  of  including  Alexandria  and  Arlington 
Heights,  as  essential  to  the  defenses  of  the  capital. 

To  these  Departments  were  added  a  fourth,  on  the  10th  day 
of  May,  including  the  States  of  Ohio,  Indiana  and  Illinois, 
under  the  command  of  Gen.  George  B.  McClellan — head- 
quarters at  Cincinnati.  This  Department  was  also  manifestly 
organized  with  a  view  to  the  maintenance  of  a  defensive  line, 
on  the  Ohio  river,  from  Wheeling  to  Cairo.  During  the  first 
week  succeeding  the  fall  of  Fort  Sumter,  indications  were  appa- 
rent which  led  the  people  along  this  extended  line — and  par- 
ticularly at  Cincinnati  and  Cairo,  deemed  especially  vulnerable 
points — to  desire  some  efficient  preparation  to  repel  any  Rebel 
advance.  The  debatable  ground  of  Kentucky  was  early  cov- 


236  LIFE   OP   ABRAHAM   LINCOLN. 

eted  as  a  field  for  military  occupancy  by  the  confident  insurgents. 
The  Governor  of  that  State  was  in  open  sympathy  with  the 
rebellion,  and,  under  the  guise  of  neutrality  which  even  the 
most  loyal  of  her  citizens  seemed  for  a  time  to  acquiesce  in  as 
the  wisest  expedient,  was  believed  to  be  preparing  to  subject 
the  State  to  Rebel  domination.  Across  this  middle  territory, 
by  the  Covington  and  Lexington  Railroad,  on  the  one  hand, 
and  by  the  Mississippi  river,  from  Columbus  and  Paducah,  on 
the  other,  an  invasion  of  Ohio  or  Illinois  was  reasonably  appre- 
hended. That  sympathizers  and  complotters  with  the  Mont- 
gomery leaders  were  eagerly  designing  and  ready  to  aid  such 
invasion,  in  both  sections  of  Kentucky,  was  well  understood. 

It  was  from  the  wish  for  prompt  and  decisive  action  in 
securing  this  defensive  line,  which  involved  the  occupation  of 
all  necessary  points  on  the  Kentucky  side  of  the  river  com- 
manding the  north  bank  of  the  Ohio,  just  as  the  possession  of 
the  bights  south  of  the  Potomac,  near  Washington,  was  essen- 
tial to  the  defense  of  that  city,  that  the  appointment  of 
Gen.  McClellan  by  Gov.  Dennison,  of  Ohio,  as  Commander 
of  the  Volunteer  Militia  of  that  State,  was  made.  This  was 
earnestly  desired,  especially  by  influential  citizens  of  Cincin- 
nati, where  McClellan  had  been  quietly  residing  during  the 
previous  year  or  two,  charged  with  responsible  duties  in  the 
management  of  an  important  railroad.  It  was  known  that  he 
had  a  military  education  and  that  he  was  an  experienced  engi- 
neer, which  latter,  quality  specially  commended  him  to  the 
favor  of  those  who  were  anxious  for  the  protection  of  the  city. 
To  render  this  appointment  efficient,  by  giving  him  authority 
to  pass  the  limits  of  Ohio  and  to  occupy  the  bights  on  the 
Kentucky  side  of  the  river,  his  appointment,  by  the  Federal 
Government,  to  a  position  in  the  regular  army  was  strenuously 
urged,  and  ere  long  secured.  In  assigning  him  so  large  an 
area  as  his  Department,  its  contemplated  reorganization  at  an 
early  day  was  distinctly  announced. 

It  was  also  on  the  10th  day  of  May  that  the  Rebel  Secretary 
of  War  issued  his  order,  at  Montgomery,  directing  Gen. 
Robert  E.  Lee  to  assume  command  of  the  "  forces  of  the  Con- 
federate States  in  Virginia." 


LIFE   OF  ABRAHAM  LINCOLN.  237 

Of  the  eight  Slave  States  which  had  stood  aloof  from  the  N 
Montgomery  Confederacy  at  the  outset,  Virginia  had  nominally 
entered  into  an  alliance  with  that  pretended  Government,  as 
already  seen,  and  practically  joined  the  insurrection,  in  advance 
of  the  promised  popular  vote.  Tennessee  and  Arkansas  fol- 
lowed this  example  on  the  6th  of  May,  and  North  Carolina 
(her  rulers  being  previously  in  practical  alliance),  on  the  20th. 
Maryland,  Missouri  and  Kentucky,  as  the  event  proved,  were 
saved  from  this  suicidal  conduct,  not  without  the  aid  of  Federal 
arms.  Delaware  remained  true. 

On  the  29th  of  April  the  blockade  was  extended,  in  accord- 
ance with  a  proclamation  of  the  President,  so  as  to  embrace  the 
ports  of  Virginia  and  North  Carolina,  owing  to  rebellious  acts 
in  those  States,  antecedent  to  their  pretended  secession,  yet 
clearly  pointing  to  such  an  event  as  practically  determined. 
Jefferson  Davis,  on  the  same  day,  having  hastily  convened  his 
"  Confederate  Congress  "  to  make  provision  for  more  effective 
hostilities,  submitted  his  message  to  that  body,  containing  an 
elaborate  attempt  to  justify  the  war  that  had  been  precipitated 
upon  the  country,  appealing  to  slaveholding  interest  and  preju- 
dice, and  instigating  a  united  and  zealous  prosecution  of  the 
war.  He  recognized,  solely,  the  issue  of  slavery  as  the  one 
cause  which  had  led  to  the  outbreak.  As  to  the  mode  of  action 
pursued  by  the  Rebel  leaders,  he  distinctly  claimed  that  the 
Constitutional  right  of  secession  had  been  steadily  maintained 
by  "  the  Democratic  party  of  the  United  States,"  and  urged  its 
pledges  "  that  it  would  faithfully  abide  by  and  uphold  "  those 
principles,  as  they  were  "  laid  down  in  the  Kentucky  and  Vir- 
ginia Legislatures  of  1799,"  and  its  adoption  of  "  those  princi- 
ples as  constituting  one  of  the  main  foundations  of  its  political 
creed."  (How  vain  this  appeal,  let  the  prompt  and  cordial 
action  of  such  Democrats  as  Douglas,  Andrew  Johnson,  B.  F. 
Butler,  Daniel  S.  Dickinson,  Lewis  Cass,  and  hundreds  of  other 
faithful  leaders  in  the  ranks  of  their  party  testify.  The  reor- 
ganized party,  assuming  the  Democratic  name,  at  a  later  day, 
under  the  auspices  of  Vallandigham,  Richardson,  Wood,  Cox 
and  their  compeers,  may  perhaps  as  heartily,  though  not  as 
openly,  indorse  this  exposition  of  the  "  Democratic  "  faith,  as 


238  LIFE   OP   ABRAHAM   LINCOLN. 

it  directly    sustains    the  allegation  of  Davis  that  Northern 
aggressions  are  the  cause  of  the  war.) 

The  Rebel  champion  further  asserts  that  these  "  principles 
were  maintained  by  overwhelming  majorities  of  the  people  of 
all  the  States  of  the  Union  at  different  elections,  especially  in 
the  election  of  Mr.  Jefferson,  in  1805,  Mr.  Madison,  in  1809, 
and  Mr.  Pierce  in  1852."  Equally  veracious  are  his  narratives 
of  the  impudent  efforts  of  Crawford  and  his  associates  to  make 
an  appearance  of  negotiating  for  peaceable  separation,  and  of 
the  events  immediately  preceding  the  attack  on  Fort  Sumter, 
with  a  view  to  rid  himself  of  the  terrible  responsibility  of  in- 
augurating a  war  that  must  consign  his  name  to  lasting  infamy. 
He  boasts  of  his  attempt  to  organize  piracy  on  the  high  seas, 
by  assuming  the  power  of  issuing  letters  of  marque  and  repri- 
sal, without  a  shadow  of  right  under  international  laws,  even 
conceding  his  claim  of  a  national  existence  for  his  pseudo-Con- 
federacy. He  expresses  his  entire  confidence  "  that,  ere  you 
[the  'Confederate  Congress ']  shall  have  been  many  weeks  in 
session,  the  whole  of  the  Slaveholding  States  of  the  late  Union 
will  respond  to  the  call  of  honor  and  affection,  and  by  uniting 
their  fortune  with  ours,  promote  our  common  interests  and 
secure  our  common  safety."  He  speaks  of  "  the  rapid  develop- 
ment of  the  purpose  of  the  President  of  .the  United  States  to 
invade  our  soil,  capture  our  forts,  blockade  our  ports,  and  wage 
war  against  us,"  and  refers  to  the  report  of  the  "  Confederate  " 
Secretary  of  War  ufor  a  full  history  of  the  occurrences  in 
Charleston  harbor,  prior  to  and  including  the  bombardment 
and  reduction  of  Fort  Sumter,  and  of  the  measures  subse- 
quently taken  for  common  defense,  on  receiving  the  intelligence 
of  the  declaration  of  war"  (so  this  scrupulous  personage  chooses 
to  say)  "against  us  by  the  President  of  the  United  States." 
He  gives  the  number  of  his  troops  "  now  in  the  field  at 
Charleston,  Pensacola,  Forts  Morgan,  Jackson,  St.  Philip,  and 
Pulaski,"  as  19,000  men,  with  16,000  more  "now  en  route  for 
Virginia."  He  adds:  "  It  is  proposed  to  organize  and  hold  in 
readiness  for  instant  action,  in  view  of  the  present  exigences 
of  the  country,  an  army  of  100,000  men;"  and  declares  that 
volunteers  "  are  constantly  tendering  their  services  far  in  excess 


LIFE   OF   ABRAHAM   LINCOLN.  239 

of  our  wants."  He  does  not  conclude  his  extended  document 
without  uttering  the  now  familiar  words,  equally  as  appropriate 
to  brigands  and  pirates  as  to  traitors  :  "All  we  ask  is,  to  be  let 
alone." 

Partly  by  way  of  inciting  slaveholders  to  unite  as  a  body  in 
his  unhallowed  schemes,  and  partly  to  influence  public  opinion 
abroad,  for  the  hour,  the  arch  conspirator  prepared  this  skillful, 
but  eminently  fallacious,  message,  and  he  found  the  pseudo- 
Congress  he  addressed  to  be  willing  instruments  in  organizing 
the  formidable  war  power  he  desired. 

These  preparations  at  Montgomery  and  the  growing  require- 
ments of  a  service  already  expanded  through  so  wide  a  field, 
made  it  necessary  for  Mr.  Lincoln  to  anticipate  the  extra  ses- 
sion of  Congress,  called  for  the  4th  of  July,  and  to  issue,  on 
the  3d  of  May,  a  proclamation  for  42,000  additional  volunteers, 
for  the  term  of  three  years,  unless  sooner  discharged,  and  for 
eight  regiments  of  infantry,  one  of  cavalry,  and  one  of  artillery, 
numbering  22,714  in  the  aggregate,  to  be  added  to  the  regular 
army.  A  call  was  also  made,  in  the  same  proclamation,  for 
18,000  additional  seamen  for  the  naval  service.  This  action, 
clearly  justified  by  the  requirements  of  the  occasion,  or  rather 
made  obligatory  upon  him  by  the  necessities  of  the  situation, 
was  confirmed  and  legalized,  without  opposition,  by  Congress  at 
its  extra  session.  It  met  the  universal  approval  of  the  loyal 
men  of  the  country,  and  the  quick  response  to  this  call  in  a  few 
days  more  than  filled  the  demand  for  army  volunteers. 

Cairo,  Illinois,  had  befn  occupied  by  Government  forces, 
under  Col.  B.  M.  Prentiss,  during  the  latter  part  of  April. 
On  the  Kentucky  and  Missouri  sides  of  the  Mississippi  and 
Ohio  rivers,  and  particularly  on  each  side  of  the  former,  at 
Columbus,  Belmont  and  below,  preparations  on  the  part  of  the 
insurgents  were  soon  manifest,  threatening  an  aggressive  move- 
ment, and  certainly  intended  to  hold  the  Mississippi,  as  a  rebel 
possession,  from  Cairo  to  New  Orleans.  The  prompt  move- 
ment of  Illinois  volunteers  saved  the  West  from  invasion. 
This  little  army  of  occupation  at  Camp  Defiance  prepared  the 
way  for  enterprises,  enlarging  to  a  magnitude  perhaps  little 
imagined  at  the  moment. 


240  LIFE   OP   ABRAHAM   LINCOLN. 

At  this  time,  also,  Capt.  Nathaniel  Lyon  (subsequently 
General)  -was  taking  prompt  measures  to  protect  the  United 
States  arms'  in  the  Arsenal  at  St.  Louis  from  seizure  by  Seces- 
sionists, who  were  scheming  to  get  possession  of  this  prize — of 
incalculable  value  to  the  Union  troops  then  volunteering.  The 
Government  now,  as  for  months  afterward,  though  untiring  in 
its  efforts,  found  it  no  easy  task  to  provide  muskets  in  numbers 
at  all  adequate  to  the  emergency.  Adroit  management  secured 
the  very  considerable  supply  at  St.  Louis  to  the  Department 
of  the  Ohio.  Like  timely  action,  soon  after,  broke  up  a  Seces- 
sion camp  forming  in  the  same  city,  and  defeated  the  plots  of  a 
traitorous  Governor  for  betraying  the  State  of  Missouri  into 
the  hands  of  the  insurgents.  Camp  Jackson,  with  a  large  sup- 
ply of  arms  and  munitions  of  war,  and  several  hundred  prison- 
ers, were  surrendered  on  the  10th  of  May — a  memorable  day 
for  Missouri. 

On  the  llth  of  the  same  month,  Gen.  W.  S.  Harney,  of  the 
regular  army,  returning  from  Kichmond,  whither  he  had  been 
taken  as  a  prisoner,  captured  in  Western  Virginia,  while  on  his 
way  to  Washington,  assumed  command  of  the  Military  Depart- 
ment of  the  West.  His  career  was  a  brief  one,  practically  cul- 
minating in  a  compact  entered  into,  on  the  21st,  with  Gen. 
Sterling  Price,  acting  on  behalf  of  the  disloyal  Governor  of 
Missouri,  to  the  effect  that  the  whole  responsibility  and  labor 
of  maintaining  peace  and  order  in  that  State  should  be  in- 
trusted to  the  State  authorities ;  while  Gen.  Harney,  on  his  part, 
should  make  no  military  movements,  and  carefully  avoid  any 
acts  tending  to  produee  jealousy  and  excitement.  It  is  need- 
less to  say  that  such  an  engagement  never  had  the  sanction  of 
the  President.  It  was  definitely  set  aside  by  an  order  of  the 
Adjutant  General  addressed  to  Harney,  under  date  of  May 
27th,  and  a  force  was  promptly  put  in  the  field,  under  command 
of  Gen.  Lyon. 

Meanwhile,  at  Washington,  since  the  free  arrival  of  troops 
had  commenced,  the  whole  country  south  of  the  Potomac, 
except  as  explored  by  scouts,  was  little  better  than  an  unknown 
land.  At  Alexandria,  a  secession  flag  floated  in  sight  of  the 
Capital,  while  at  Manassas  Junction  a  threatening  force  was 


LIFE   OF   ABRAHAM    LINCOLN.  241 

gathering.  It  was  not  until  the  morning  of  the  24th  of  May 
that  an  advance  into  Virginia,  by  the  forces  under  Gen.  Mans- 
field, was  deemed  expedient.  This  movement,  awakening  great 
interest  among  the  people,  who  had  anticipated  early  and  deci- 
sive results,  and  began  already  to  weary  of  indispensable  delay, 
had  no  further  immediate  purpose  than  the  occupancy  of 
Arlington  Heights  and  Alexandria,  for  the  greater  security  of 
Washington ;  for  any  more  extended  undertaking,  this  impro- 
vised army,  as  all  now  see  after  three  years  of  war,  was  entirely 
inadequate,  either  in  itself  or  in  its  appliances.  An  advance 
on  Manassas  Junction,  at  this  time,  was  indeed  discussed  in 
official  circles,  but  military  opinions  were  decidedly  against  the 
undertaking,  and  the  Department  of  Washington  was  not  now 
enlarged. 

This  advance  into  Virginia,  early  in  the  morning  of  the  day 
after  the  farce  of  a  popular  vote  for  Secession  had  been  enacted, 
was  executed  without  resistance.  Col.  Ellsworth,  who  com- 
manded a  regiment  ordered  to  Alexandria,  lost  his  life  by  the 
hands  of  an  assassin,  in  hauling  down,  with  his  own  hand,  the 
Rebel  flag  that  had,  for  many  days,  flaunted  defiance  toward 
Washington  ;  otherwise,  no  serious  casualty  occurred.  To  the 
people  of  Alexandria  this  movement  was  a  surprise,  and  some 
prisoners  fell  into  the  hands  of  our  troops.  The  number  of 
men  who  crossed  the  Potomac,  at  this  time,  was  about  13,000. 
They  immediately  commenced  constructing  earthworks,  where 
Fort  Ellsworth,  Fort  Corcoran,  the  defenses  of  the  Long  BridgeN, 
and  other  memorials  of  like  purpose,  still  attest  the  labors  then 
entered  upon. 

Two  days  later,  the  Postmaster  General  issued  his  order  sus- 
pending all  postal  service  in  the  States  of  Virginia,  North 
Carolina,  South  Carolina,  Georgia,  Florida,  Alabama,  Missis- 
sippi, Louisiana,  Arkansas  and  Texas,  to  take  effect  on  the  31st 
of  May.  Tennessee,  although  in  league  with  the  Confederate 
insurgents,  through  the  State  officers,  was  intentionally  omitted 
in  this  order.  Obvious  advantages  had  resulted  from  a  contin- 
uance of  the  United  States  mails  in  all  the  States  hitherto,  and 
it  was  only  when,  more  active  hostilities  being  imminent,  these 
advantages  would  be  more  than  counterbalanced,  that  this  order 
21 


242  LIFJ5   OF   ABRAHAM    LINCOLN. 

was  issued.  To  the  leaders  and  people  of  the  insurgent  dis- 
tricts it  was  no  light  matter,  as  at  once  practically  felt,  to  be 
deprived  of  this  beneficent  intervention  of  the  Federal  Govern- 
ment, maintained,  as  it  always  had  been,  in  part,  by  a  tax  upon 
the  correspondence  of  the  Free  States.  This  order  marks  the 
date  of  the  first  decisive  step  toward  the  enforcement  of  non- 
intercourse  with  the  Rebel  population,  except  as  their  territory 
might  successively  fall  within  the  lines  of  our  armies,  now 
rapidly  preparing  for  the  field. 

A  great  portion  of  the  army  which  had  been  forming  under 
the  eye  of  Gen.  McClellan,  was  to  have  its  first  employment, 
by  direction  of  the  President,  in  sustaining  the  loyal  people  of 
Western  Virginia.  The  force  sent  into  that  region  was  to  drive 
back  the  Rebel  troops  which  had  gone  out  to  destroy  the  Bal- 
timore and  Ohio  Railroad,  and  to  subjugate  that  part  of  the 
State,  in  which  a  purpose  to  repudiate  secession  was  already 
manifested.  The  order  was  issued  by  the  General  from  his 
headquarters  at  Cincinnati  on  the  26th  of  May,  and  the  First 
Virginia  Regiment  of  volunteers,  under  Col.  B.  F.  Kelly,  was 
sent  out  from  Bellaire  on  the  Wheeling  branch  of  the  railroad, 
while  the  Fourteenth  Ohio  Regiment  of  volunteers,  under  Col. 
J.  B.  Steadman,  advanced  on  the  Parkersburg  branch  of  the 
road,  toward  Grafton. 

For  several  days  after  this  movement  commenced,  Gen. 
McClellan  remained  at  Cincinnati.  Under  the  auspices  of 
Gov.  Magoffin  and  his  Inspector-General,  Simon  B.  Buckner, 
a  force  was  organizing  in  Kentucky,  believed  to  be  covertly 
intended  for  the  Rebel  service,  and  watched  with  apprehension 
by  loyal  people  north  of  the  Ohio.  During  the  progress  of 
Buckner  s  preparations  he  visited  Cincinnati  and  had  a  pro- 
tracted interview  with  Gen.  McClellan,  on  the  8th  of  June. 
In  an  official  report  to  Gov.  Magoffin,  made  public  on  the 
22d  of  that  month,  Buckner  set  forth  in  detail  what  he  alleged 
as  a  formal  agreement  between  McClellan  and  himself,  the  sub- 
stance of  which,  after  an  engagement  on  the  part  of  Kentucky 
to  maintain  "  neutrality  "  between  the  "  United  States  "  and 
the  "  Southern  States,"  is  contained  in  the  following  extract 
from  that  document : 


LIFE   OP   ABRAHAM   LINCOLN.  243 

Gen.  McClellan  stipulates  that  the  territory  of  Kentucky 
shall  be  respected  on  the  part  of  the  United  States,  even  though 
the  Southern  States  should  occupy  it;  but  in  the  latter  case  he 
•will  call  upon  the  authorities  of  Kentucky  to  remove  the 
Southern  forces  from  our  territory.  Should  Kentucky  fail  to 
accomplish  this  object  in  a  reasonable  time,  Gen. '''McClellan 
claims  the  same  right  of  occupancy  given  to  the  Southern 
forces.  I  have  stipulated,  in  that  case,  to  advise  him  of  the 
inability  of  Kentucky  to  comply  with  her  obligations,  and  to 
invite  him  to  dislodge  the  Southern  forces.  He  stipulates  that 
if  he  is  successful  in  doing  so,  he  will  withdraw  his  forces  from 
the  territory  of  the  State  as  soon  as  the  Southern  forces  shall 
have  been  removed.  This,  he  assures  me,  is  the  policy  which 
he  will  adopt  toward  Kentucky. 

That  this  interview  took  place,  is  an  undisputed  fact.  That 
any  compact  of  this  nature  was  entered  into,  would  seem 
incredible,  without  other  evidence  than  Buckner's  word  of 
honor.  But  that  Gen.  McClellan,  while  commanding  the 
Department  of  the  Ohio,  did  nothing  inconsistent  with  the 
alleged  terms  of  agreement,  must  be  conceded.  Thus  was  one 
controlling  purpose  in  his  first  appointment  by  the  Governor  of 
Ohio  completely  defeated.  The  occupation  and  defense  of  the 
southern  bank  of  the  river,  near  Cincinnati,  was  voluntarily 
abandoned — either  by  reason  of  this  stipulation  or  without 
it — by  the  man  specially  chosen  for  that  work.  Near  the 
same  date,  Gen.  McClellan  addressed  a  letter  to  the  late 
Mr.  Crittenden,  expressing  regret  that  some  of  Gen.  Prentiss' 
men,  in  making  an  excursion  down  the  Mississippi,  on  the  12th 
of  June,  had  landed  on  the  Kentucky  shore  and  cut  down  and 
brought  away  a  Secession  flag  which  they  saw  flying  at  Colum- 
bus. He  disclaimed  all  responsibility  for  this  intrusion. 

Thus  cautious  was  the  Commanding  General  to  be  no  aggres- 
sor on  the  soil  of  any  Slave  State,  and  to  wound  the  sensi- 
bilities of  neither  incipient  Rebels  nor  "  neutrals,"  who  were 
supporters  of  slave  institutions.  Even  while  sending  a  force 
to  the  aid  of  loyal  Western  Virginia,  at  the  request  of  her 
people,  he  was  careful  to  assure  them : 

Notwithstanding  all  that  has  been  said  by  the  traitors  to 
induce  you  to  believe  that  our  advent  among  you  will  be  signal 


244  LIFE   OP   ABRAHAM   LINCOLN. 

ized  by  interference  with  your  slaves,  understand  one  thing 
clearly — not  only  will  we  abstain  from  all  such  interference, 
but  we  will,  on  the  contrary,  with  an  iron  hand,  crush  any 
attempt  at  insurrection  on  their  part. 

The  firs4Ungagement  in  Western  Virginia  was  fought  at  Phil- 
ippa,  on  the  2d  of  June,  Gen.  Thomas  A.  Morris,  of  Indiana,  being 
the  officer  in  actual  command  of  the  forces  now  concentrated  at 
and  near  Grafton,  with  headquarters  at  that  place.  The  arduous 
and  successful  expedition  thence  to  Philippa,  surprising  and 
breaking  up  an  important  camp  of  Rebels,  was  under  the  imme- 
diate direction  of  Col.  Dumont,  of  Indiana. 

On  the  3d  of  June,  Gen.  Patterson  issued  an  address  from 
his  headquarters,  now  at  Chambersburg,  Pa.,  to  the  troops  of 
his  Department,  promising  that  they  should  "soon  meet  the 
insurgents."  He  added :  "  You  must  bear  in  mind  you  are 
going  for  the  good  of  the  whole  country,  and  that,  while  it  is 
your  duty  to  punish  sedition,  you  must  protect  the  loyal,  and, 
should  the  occasion  offer,  at  once  suppress  servile  insurrection." 

It  is  worthy  of  note  here  that  Mr.  Lincoln,  with  that  magna- 
nimity which  would  see  only  an  endangered  country,  had  put 
at  the  head  of  three  important  Military  Departments  three  of 
the  most  decided  of  his  political  opponents — Patterson,  Butler 
and  McClellan.  These  appointments  were  made  under  the 
earnest  conviction — how  well  justified  by  the  result  will  pres- 
ently appear — that  these  officers  possessed  the  military  capacity 
and  skill  suited  to  the  wants  of  the  occasion,  and  that  they 
would  heartily  sustain  the  Government  in  its  work  of  self-pres- 
ervation. Patterson  and  McGlellan  had  each  been  selected  by 
the  Republican  Executives  of  their  own  States.  Both  had 
served  in  Mexico,  under  the  eye  of  Gen.  Scott,  and  their  selec- 
tion had  his  approval. 

To  the  voluntary  promises  made  by  Patterson  and  McClellan, 
that  slavery  should  be  upheld  by  force  of  arms,  if  need  be,  it 
must  be  added  that  a  like  assurance  was  given  by  Butler  to  the 
people  of  Maryland,  soon  after  his  occupation  of  Annapolis. 

A  few  days  after  the  victory  at  Philippa,  Gen.  Thomas  A. 
Morris,  the  General  in  actual  command,  on  whom,  with  Gen. 
W.  S.  Roaecrans,  the  direction  of  the  campaign  now  inaugu- 


LIFE  OP  ABRAHAM   LINCOLN.  245 

rated  in  West  Virginia  mainly  depended,  issued  his  proclama- 
tion from  headquarters  at  Grafton,  calling  on  the  people  to  arm 
for  their  own  protection  against  the  enemies  of  their  "  freedom 
and  peace,"  and  to  rally  in  arms  to  the  support  of  the  Consti- 
tutional Government.  The  Convention  of  loyal  Virginia  Del- 
egates, held  at  Wheeling,  proclaimed,  on  the  17th  of  June, 
their  repudiation  of  the  pretended  ordinance  of  secession  by 
which  Virginia  was  called  on  "  to  separate  from  and  wage  war 
against  the  Government  of  the  United  States,"  and  in  the  name 
of  the  people,  declared  that  "  the  offices  of  all  who  adhere  to  "* 
the  Richmond  Convention  and  Gov.  Letcher  (in  the  enumerated 
acts  of  treason  and  usurpation  perpetrated  hy  them),  whether 
legislative,  executive  or  judicial,  are  vacated.  A  new  State 
Government  was  promptly  organized,  with  Francis  H.  Pierpont 
for  Governor.  In  due  time  a  State  Legislature  was  chosen,  and 
Senators  and  Representatives  in  Congress  were  elected.  Thus, 
with  the  full  approbation  of  President  Lincoln,  and  with  his 
substantial  support,  was  the  first  step  inaugurated  toward  a 
restoration  of  a  loyal  local  Government  in  the  insurgent  States. 
The  State  Government  thus  organized  was  for  Virginia  in  its 
integrity,  and  it  was  sustained  by  the  people,  wherever  our 
armies  held  in  check  the  armed  forces  of  the  Rebels. 

On  the  23d  of  June,  three  weeks  after  the  battle  of  Phil- 
ippa,  Gen.  McClellan,  having  just  arrived,  issued  another 
proclamation  to  the  people  from  headquarters  at  Grafton, 
announcing  that  the  Army  of  the  Ohio,  "  headed  by  Virginia 
troops,  is  rapidly  occupying  all  Western  Virginia."  He  re- 
affirmed the  promises  of  his  former  proclamation,  adding: 
"  Your  houses,  families,  property  and  all  your  rights  will  be 
religiously  respected."  He  denounced  upon  guerrillas  and 
marauders  the  severest  penalties  of  military  law.  To  the  sol- 
diers of  his  Army  he  issued  an  order  enjoining  good  conduct, 
and  inspiriting  them  for  the  work  before  them.  "  We  have 
come  here,"  he  said,  "  to  save,  not  to  upturn." 

Nearly  three  weeks  later,  July  12th  (after  a  skirmish  at 
Laurel  Hill,  on  the  10th),  an  engagement  was  had  with  the 
Rebels  under  Col.  Pegram,  commonly  known  as  the  battle  of 
Rich  Mountain,  resulting  in  the  surrender  of  that  officer  and  a 


246  LIFE  OF  ABRAHAM   LINCOLN. 

number  of  men,  officially  estimated  as  "  nine  hundred  or  one 
thousand,"  as  well  as  in  the  rout  and  close  pursuit  of  Gen. 
Garnett  and  the  forces  he  was  bringing  to  the  support  of  Pe- 
gram,  and  in  the  death  of  Garnett  at  Carrickford,  on  the  14th. 
Without  discussing  the  merits  of  this  brief  campaign,  in  which 
the  number  of  men  engaged  on  either  side  may  be  estimated  at 
rather  more  than  10,000,  it  will  suffice  to  quote  the  final  sum- 
ming up,  by  the  Commanding  General,  in  his  dispatch  to  the 
War  Department,  of  July  14th,  as  follows  : 

HUTTONSVILLE,  VA.,  July  14,  1861. 
Col.  E.  D.  Towntend,  Assistant  Adjutant  General  : 

Gen.  Garnett  and  his  forces  have  been  routed  and  his  bag- 
gage and  one  gnn  taken.  His  army  are  completely  demoralized. 
Gen.  Garnett  was  killed  while  attempting  to  rally  his  forces  at 
Carrickford,  near  St.  George. 

We  have  completely  annihilated  the  enemy  in  Western 
Virginia. 

Our  loss  is  but  thirteen  killed  and  not  more  than  forty 
wounded,  while  the  enemy's  loss  is  not  far  from  two  hundred 
killed,  and  the  number  of  prisoners  we  have  taken  will  amount 
to  at  least  one  thousand.  We  have  captured  seven  of  the  ene- 
my's guns  in  all. 

A  portion  of  Garnett's  forces  retreated,  but  I  look  for  their 
capture  by  General  Hill,  who  is  in  hot  pursuit. 

The  troops  that  Garnett  had  under  his  command  are  said  to 
be  the  crack  regiments  of  Eastern  Virginia,  aided  by  Geor- 
gians, Tennesseeans  and  Carolinians. 

Our  success  is  complete,  and  I  firmly  believe  that  secession 
is  killed  in  this  section  of  the  country. 

GEORGE  B.  MCCLELLAN,  Maj.-Gen.  U.  S.  A. 

A  similar  work  was  simultaneously  going  on  in  Missouri, 
under  the  earnest  and  skillful  guidance  of  Gen.  Nathaniel  Lyon. 
Missouri  was  nearly  betrayed  by  its  Secessionist  Governor  and 
his  subordinates,  without  the  aid  of  a  conspiring  Convention, 
yet  she  was  drifting,  under  unscrupulous  management,  in  the 
same  direction  which  Virginia,  North  Carolina  and  Tennessee 
had  gone.  Gov.  Claiborne  F.  Jackson  had  defied  the  popular 
repudiation  of  Secession,  issued  his  proclamation,  on  the  12th, 
calling  out  50,000  militia,  to  repel  "  invasion,"  etc.,  and  imme- 
diately organized  a  further  Rebel  force  at  the  State  Capital, 


LIFE   OF   ABRAHAM   LINCOLN.  247 

after  the  breaking  up  of  Camp  Jackson,  at  St.  Louis,  as  already 
narrated.  Gen.  Lyon  approaching  Jefferson  City  with  a  mod- 
erate force,  Jackson  evacuated  the  place  on  the  14th  of  June, 
and  the  Union  forces  occupied  ft  on  the  following  day.  On 
the  17th,  Gen.  Lyon,  finding  that  the  Rebel  Governor  was 
fortifying  at  Boonville,  forty  miles  distant  (his  forces  being 
commanded  by  Gen.  Sterling  Price),  advanced  to  that  point 
and  gained  a  complete  victory,  dispersing  the  insurgents,  who 
lost  heavily  in  killed,  wounded  and  prisoners.  These  ener- 
getic movements  at  once  secured  the  possession  of  a  large 
portion  of  the  State  from  Rebel  interference. 

The  defeat  of  the  conspirators,  first  at  St.  Louis  and  after- 
ward at  Boonville,  had  been  so  complete  that  it  was  several 
weeks  before  any  considerable  force  was  rallied  to  disturb  the 
quiet  into  which  the  State  was  settling  down,  under  the  new 
government  of  loyal  rulers,  which  was  meanwhile  forming. 
On  the  3lst  of  July,  Hamilton  R.  Gamble  was  elected  Provi- 
sional Governor  by  the  Missouri  State  Convention,  and  duly 
inaugurated,  with  other  loyal  officers,  chosen  at  the  same  time. 
The  future  of  that  State  was  thus  assured. 

In  Gen.  Butler's  Department  a  movement,  preparatory  to 
opening  t^e  way  to  Vorktown,  was  made  by  a  small  force,  on 
the  10th  of  June,  resulting  in  a  repulse  at  Big  Bethel.  Coming 
a  week  after  the  cheering  success  at  Philippa,  under  Gen.  Mor- 
ris, the  effect  of  this  reverse,  unimportant  as  it  may  seem,  was 
sadly  felt  by  the  country,  and  placed  the  Commanding  General 
under  a  cloud,  from  which  he  unfortunately  did  little  to  redeem 
himself,  during  the  time  he  retained  this  command. 

The  fight  at  Falling  Waters,  on  the  2d  of  July,  was  the 
chief  event,  which  had  thus  far  relieved  the  general  quietude, 
not  to  say  dullness,  prevailing  in  the  Department  of  Gen.  Pat- 
terson. This  skirmish  occurred  near  Hainesville,  Md.,  in  the 
tardy  execution  of  a  long-deferred  movement  of  Patterson's 
force  from  Chambersburg,  by  Williamsport,  to  Harper's  Ferry. 
The  loss  was  small  on  either  side,  yet,  as  an  indication  of  some 
approaching  activity,  it  was  not  without  its  effect  on  an  already 
impatient  people.  With  further  delays  and  hesitations,  the 
force  of  Patterson  was,  at  length  thrown  across  the  Potomac. 


248  LIFE   OF   ABSAIIAM   LINCOLN. 

At  this  time,  a  considerable  Rebel  force  was  belreved  to  hare 
accumulated  at  Manassas  Junction  and  at  Winchester.  The 
popular  demand  was  almost  universal  that  our  troops,  now  so 
long  in  arms,  the  brief  term*  of  a  large  portion  of  whom  was 
about  to  expire,  should  be  led  against  the  enemy.  Gen.  Scott 
at  length  decided  on  a  movement  upon  Manassas — resulting  in 
the  battle  of  Bull  Run,  with  which  this  first  period  of  the  war 
may  be  said  to  have  closed. 

Gen.  Irvin  McDowell  took  command  of  the  troops  on  the 
Yirginia  side  of  the  Potomac,  May  27th,  three  days  after  they 
had  crossed  over.  His  headquarters  were  at  the  Arlington 
House.  On  the  31st  of  May,  a  company  of  cavalry,  under 
Lieut.  Tompkins,  dashed  into  the  village  of  Fairfax  Court 
House,  where  several  hundred  Rebel  cavalry  were  stationed, 
killing  a  number  of  the  enemy  and  capturing  five  prisoners. 
His  own  loss  was  one  killed  and  five  wounded  or  missing.  This 
may  be  called  the  first  cavalry  raid.  As  a  reconnoissance,  this 
otherwise  unimportant  affair  was  of  service,  the  officer  in  com- 
mand reporting  the  presence  of  Rebel  troops  at  that  point  to 
the  number  of  1,500  men. 

After  the  manifestations,  here  as  well  as  in  the  Shenandoah 
Valley,  of  a  gradual  aggressive  movement  of  the  insurgents, 
threatening  alike  Alexandria,  Washington  and  the  upper  part 
of  Maryland,  the  impatience  of  the  people — ignorant  as  they 
were  of  the  difficulties  in  the  way  of  properly  equipping  a  force, 
even  then  so  much  out  of  proportion  to  any  organized  in  this 
country  during  the  last  forty  years — was  natural,  when,  with 
only  skirmishing  along  the  Potomac,  no  general  movement  to 
thrust  back  these  aggressors  had  been  commenced  until  the  mid- 
dle of  July.  That  the  causes  of  this  delay  were  beyond  the 
control  of  the  Executive,  and  that  even  when  commenced  the 
experienced  military  leaders  in  command  had  failed  to  put  their 
forces  in  full  readiness,  is  now  apparent.  The  Rebels  them- 
selves anticipated  an  earlier  attack,  and  had  prepared  for  it, 
awaiting  the  onset  on  their  chosen  ground.  Meanwhile  bat- 
teries began  to  be  erected  along  the  Potomac,  at  Acquia  Creek 
and  elsewhere,  threatening  a  complete  blockade  of  the  river. 
On  the  27th  of  June,  Capt,  James  H.  Ward,  of  the  Navy,  had 


LIFE   OP  ABRAHAM   LINCOLN.  249 

lost  his  life  in  an  attack  on  the  obstructions  at  Matthias  Point. 
The  hope  and  purpose  of  capturing  Washington  and  subju- 
gating Maryland  were  clearly  shown  by  the  procedure  of  the 
Rebels,  and  not  without  reason,  when  we  remember  their  mili- 
tary preparations  during  a  whole  year,  and  the  advantages  given 
them  by  the  Administration  just  closed. 

Baltimore,  in  which  there  had  been,  since  the  19th  of  April, 
constant  conspiracies  in  aid  of  the  rebellion,  and  which  was 
relied  on  by  the  Rebel  leaders  for  important  aid  in  the  general 
scheme  of  extending  their  military  sway  northward  to  Mason 
and  Dixon's  line,  had  been  occupied  by  Gen.  Butler  on  the  14th 
of  May.  Strong  works  thrown  up  on  Federal  Hill,  and  else- 
where, as  well  as  Fort  McIIenry,  now  held  the  conspirators  in. 
check,  and  their  designs  were  effectually  overthrown  before 
Butler's  transfer  to  the  new  Department  of  Virginia,  a  few  days 
later.  This  Department  originally  embraced  Eastern  Virginia 
to  the  summit  of  the  Blue  Ridge,  and  the  States  of  North  Caro- 
lina and  South  Carolina.  Gen.  N.  P.  Banks  succeeded  to  the 
command  at  Baltimore,  and  continued  the  vigorous  measures  of 
his  predecessor. 

On  the  15th  of  July,  Gen.  Patterson's  army  advanced,  occu- 
pying Bunker  Hill,  and  the  Rebel  force  under  J.  E.  Johnston 
fell  back  on  Winchester.  Pafterson  was  expected  at  least  to 
occupy  the  attention  of  the  Rebels,  to  whose  force  his  own 
actually  was,  as  believed  at  the  time  in  Washington,  largely 
superior.  Almost  simultaneously  with  this  "  demonstration"  in 
the  Valley,  Gen.  McDowell  issued  an  order  (July  16th)  dis- 
tributing his  troops  into  divisions,  and  took  up  the  line  of 
march  toward  Fairfax  Court  House.  This  place  his  advance 
column  occupied  on  the  following  day,  without  resistance.  His 
entire  effective  force  was  not  far  from  50,000  men  :  the  First 
Division  under  command  of  Gen.  Daniel  Tyler,  of  Connecticut ; 
the  Second  under  Col.  David  Hunter,  of  the  Army ;  tfce  Third 
under  Col.  S.  P.  Heintzelman,  of  the  Army ;  the  Fourth  under 
Gen.  Theodore  Runyon,  of  New  Jersey,  and  the  Fifth  under 
Col.  D.  S.  Miles,  of  the  Army.  The  two  last  divisions  were 
intended  to  act  as  the  Reserve. 

On  the  1  Sth,  Patterson's  force,  instead  of  attacking  Johnston 


260  LIFE   OP  ABRAHAM   LINCOLN. 

at  Winchester,  was  moved  on  Charlestown — a  step  which  all 
critics,  judging  after  the  event,  will  agree  to  have  been  unfor- 
tunate, in  consequence  of  which  no  effectual  cooperation  with 
the  Manassas  movement  was  rendered.  On  the  same  day, 
(Thursday)  McDowell  resumed  his  march  in  the  direction  of 
Centreville,  and  a  premature  engagement  was  brought  on  at 
Blackburn's  Ford,  by  a  portion  of  Gen.  Tyler's  division.  The 
slight  repulse  which  followed  ended  an  immediate  advance,  and 
detained  the  army,  inactive,  at  and  near  Centreville,  for  the 
next  two  days. 

The  plan  of  battle,  as  now  seen  in  the  published  order  of 
Gen.  McDowell,  for  Sunday  the  21st,  was  a  good  one,  but  the 
^execution  of  some  of  its  details  was  imperfect,  and  the  delay  of 
troops  in  moving  to  the  scene  of  action  prepared  the  way  for 
the  final  disaster,  through  the  arrival  of  Rebel  reinforcements 
from  Johnston,  whom  Patterson  had  failed  to  occupy  as 
ordered.  The  immediate  purpose  of  giving  battle  at  this 
time,  was  to  force  the  enemy  from  his  position  commanding 
the  Warrenton  road,  and  to  destroy  the  railroad  from  Manassas 
to  the  Valley  of  Virginia,  preventing  communication  with  the 
large  Rebel  force  in  the  latter  locality. 

The  stream  named  Bull  Run  passes  in  a  southeasterly  direc- 
tion through  the  ravine  at  the  foot  of  the  slope  beyond  Centre- 
ville. Three  roads  lead  from  the  latter  place  to  the  South  and 
West — one  nearly  due  south,  crossing  Bull  Run  at  Blackburn's 
Ford ;  a  second  due  west  toward  Groveton,  over  the  Stone 
Bridge  ;  and  a  third,  about  midway  between  these  two,  at  an 
angle  of  forty-five  degrees,  to  each,  extending  more  directly  to 
Newmarket,  (near  Manassas  Junction),  where  Beauregard,  com- 
manding the  Rebel  forces,  had  his  headquarters.  This  last 
road  is  known  as  the  Warrenton  turnpike.  Beyond  the  run 
are  the  Manassas  Plains,  extending  for  miles,  mostly  an  open 
country,  like  a  Western  prairie.  On  the  rolling  ground  near 
the  stream  the  woods  are  dense,  and  there  are  occasional  groves 
farther  away.  The  Rebel  lines  extended  for  a  distance  of  six 
to  ten  miles  along  the  right  bank  of  Bull  Run,  from  near 
Blackburn's  Ford  to  the  Stone  Bridge,  and  beyond  the  Grove- 
ton  road.  The  Rebel  lines  were  two  or  three  miles  distant,  at 


LIFE   OF  ABRAHAM   LINCOLN.  251 

the  nearest  point,  from  Newmarket,  and  visible  from  the  head- 
quarters of  Beauregard.  The  number  of  his  men,  on  Sunday 
morning,  is  believed  to  have  been  about  forty  thousand  in  line, 
with  fifteen  or  twenty  thousand  in  reserve,  exclusive  of  reen- 
forcements  arriving  during  the  day. 

A  large  portion  of  Johnston's  forces  had  previously  reached 
Manassas  Junction,  and  that  General  was  present  in  person,  but 
waiving  his  seniority  of  rank,  allowed  Beauregard  to  conduct 
the  engagement,  his  dispositions  having  already  been  made. 

Leaving  part  of  the  division  under  Miles — two  brigades  with 
two  batteries — as  a  reserve  at  Centreville,  together  with  Rich- 
ardson's brigade,  temporarily  assigned  to  the  same  division, 
which  was  to  threaten  Blackburn's  Ford,  covered  by  the  ene- 
my's right,  McDowell  ordered  Tyler's  division  to  take  position 
on  the  Warrenton  road,  menacing  the  Rebel  center.  To  Hun- 
ter's division  was  intrusted  the  important  work  of  turning 
the  Rebel  left,  going  to  the  right  of  the  Groveton  road,  and 
crossing  Bull  Run  above  Sudley's  Spring.  This  force  was  to 
be  followed  by  Heintzelman's  division,  which  was  to  cross  lower 
down,  after  Hunter  had  effected  his  crossing  and  descended  the 
right  bank  to  a  point  nearly  opposite,  driving  away  any  force 
that  might  be  there  to  dispute  the  passage.  These  two  divi- 
sions were  the  ones  most  actively  engaged  in  the  ensuing  battle. 
The  necessity  of  strongly  guarding  against  the  contingency  of 
a  Rebel  movement  to  occupy  Centreville,  either  by  Blackburn's 
Ford  or  the  Warrenton  road,  was  strongly  impressed  on  the 
mind  of  the  Commanding  General.  This  led  to  the  detach- 
ment of  one  of  Heintzelman's  brigades,  after  the  movement 
commenced,  to  be  added  to  the  force  on  our  left.  The  event 
showed  the  wisdom  of  his  action  in  protecting  this  position, 
which  the  Rebel  General  had  deliberately  planned  to  assail,  if 
we  may  credit  his  report,  written  long  afterward,  and  which, 
but  for  McDowell's  precautions,  might  have  been  taken  at  the 
close  of  the  battle,  to  the  much  more  serious  discomfiture  of 
our  army. 

More  time  was  consumed  in  getting  the  men  in  position,  on 
the  morning  of  the  21st,  than  had  been  anticipated.  Tyler 
opened  with  his  artillery  at  half  past  six  o'clock,  eliciting  no 


252  LIFE   OP  ABRAHAM   LINCOLN. 

reply.  Burnside's  brigade,  under  Hunter,  successfully  crossed 
the  stream,  and  emerged  from  the  wooded  bank  into  the  open 
plain  beyond.  Almost  immediately,  the  head  of  the  column 
encountered  a  heavy  Rebel  force,  but  Tyler*  and  Heintzelman 
had  each,  from  their  respective  positions,  succeeded  in  throwing 
part  of  their  force  across,  and  presently  nearly  all  but  the 
reserves  before  mentioned  were  brought  into  action.  The 
ground  was  hotly  contested  from  half  past  ten  o'clock  until 
three.  The  advantage  at  the  latter  hour  was  clearly  on  the  side 
of  our  arms,  and  the  victory  seemed  assured.  That  such  was 
the  view  taken  by  the  Rebel  commanders  even,  is  seen  from  the 
accounts  of  the  battle  from  that  side. 

At  this  important  juncture,  a  further  reinforcement  from 
Johnston's  army  at  Winchester  (perhaps,  in  fact,  "  the  residue" 
of  that  army,  as  supposed  by  Gen.  McDowell)  arrived  on  the 
field.  Our  men,  who  had  been  up  since  two  o'clock,  had 
marched  several  miles,  and  had  fought  for  many  hours,  were 
exhausted  by  the  privations  they  had  necessarily  undergone, 
and  from  the  fatigue  incident  to  such  labors  in  an  excessively 
hot  day.  Most  were  inexperienced  troops.  This  was  their 
first  engagement.  The  new  masses  now  hurled  upon  them 
decided  the  event.  The  battle  was  lost.  Panic  and  pell-mell 
retreat  ensued.  Only  on  reaching  Centreville  was  any  degree 
of  order  restored,  after  the  first  falling  back.  The  official 
report  of  Gen.  McDowell  states  his  loss  as  481  killed,  and  1,011 
wounded,  without  an  enumeration  of  prisoners.  Beauregard 
stated  his  own  losses  as  269  killed,  and  1,438  wounded,  and 
estimated  McDowell's  entire  loss  (including  prisoners)  at  over 
4,500.  The  battle  field  remained  in  possession  of  the  insur- 
gents, yet,  in  spite  of  their  superior  numbers,  they  failed  to 
improve  their  victory  by  either  a  destructive  pursuit  or  an 
early  movement  upon  Washington.  The  Rebel  General  con- 
fesses, in  his  official  report,  that  he  was  intending,  before  the 
battle,  to  attack  McDowell,  instead  of  awaiting  his  farther  ad- 
vance, manifestly  hoping,  after  uniting  Johnston's  forces  and 
his  own,  to  gain  possession  of  the  Federal  Capital.  The  hard- 
contested  field  of  Bull  Run  postponed  farther  attempts  to  ac- 
complish this  purpose,  and  the  prompt  and  efficient  measures 


LIFE   OF   ABRAHAM    LINCOLN.  253 

taken  for  the  defense  of  Washington  rendered  the  joint  cam- 
paign of  Johnston  and  Beauregard  as  unproductive  of  material 
results,  as  the  advance  of  McDowell,  unsustained  by  Patterson, 
had  been  wanting  in  military  success.  It  was  chiefly  in  its 
moral  effect,  at  home  and  abroad,  that  this  battle  had  any 
special  significance 


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LIFE   OF   ABRAHAM    LINCOLN. 
f 


CHAPTER  III. 

Extra  Session  of  Congress. — President  Lincoln's  Message. — Reliel  Af- 
fairs at  Richmond. 

CONGRESS  had  convened  on  the  4th  of  July,  in  accordance 
with  the  President's  call  in  his  proclamation  of  April  15th, 
and  organized  by  the  election  of  Mr.  Grow,  of  Pennsylvania, 
as  Speaker.  Little  decisive  action  had  been  taken  prior  to  the 
date  to  which  military  events  have  been  traced  in  the  preced- 
ing chapter.  The  President's  Message  to  Congress,  at  the 
opening  of  this  extra  session,  contains  a  concise  statement  of 
the  situation  of  affairs  at  that  time,  four  months  having  passed 
since  the  delivery  of  his  Inaugural  Address,  and  presents  his 
views  as  to  what  was  required  to  be  done  for  the  maintenance 
of  the  Constitutional  Government.  With  a  review  of  the  cir- 
cumstances under  which  hostilities  were  commenced,  and  with 
a  conclusive  exposure  of  the  false  pretenses  of  Secessionism,  it 
also  clearly  sets  forth  the  acts,  motives  and  purposes  of  the 
President.  This  document  is  here  given  at  length  : 

MR.  LINCOLN'S  FIRST  MESSAGE. 

FELLOW-CITIZENS  OF  THE  SENATE  AND  HOUSE  OF  REPRE- 
SENTATIVES :  Having  been  convened  on  an  extraordinary  oc- 
casion, as  authorized  by  the  Constitution,  your  attention  is  not 
called  to  any  ordinary  subject  of  legislation.  At  the  begin- 
ning of  the  present  Presidential  term,  four  months  ago,  the 
functions  of  the  Federal  Government  were  found  to  be  gen- 
erally suspended  within  the  several  States  of  South  Carolina, 
Georgia,  Alabama,  Mississippi,  Louisiana  and  Florida,  except- 
ing only  those  of  the  Postoffice  Department. 

Within  these  States  all  the  Forts,  Arsenals,  Dock- Yards, 
Custom-Houses,  and  the  like,  including  the  movable  and  sta- 
tionary property  in  and  about  them,  had  .been  seized,  and 
were  held  in  open  hostility  to  this  Government,  excepting  only 


LIFE   OF   ABRAHAM   LINCOLN.  255 

Forts  Pickens,  Taylor  and  Jefferson,  on  and  near  the  Florida 
coast,  and  Fort  Sumter  in  Charleston  harbor,  South  Carolina. 
The  forts  thus  seized  had  been  put  in  improved  condition, 
new  ones  had  been  built,  and  armed  forces  had  been  organ- 
ized, and  were  organizing,  all  avowedly  with  the  same  hostile 
purpose. 

The  forts  remaining  in  possession  of  the  Federal  Govern- 
ment in  and  near  these  States  were  either  besieged  or  menaced 
by  warlike  preparations,  and  especially  Fort  Sumter  was  nearly 
surrounded  by  well-protected  hostile  batteries,  with  guns 
equal  in  quality  to  the  best  of  its  own,  and  outnumbering  the 
latter  as,  perhaps,  ten  to  one — a  disproportionate  share  of  the 
Federal  muskets  and  rifles  had  somehow  found  their  way  into 
these  States,  and  had  been  seized  to  be  used  against  the  Gov- 
ernment. 

Accumulations  of  the  public  revenue  lying  within  them  had 
been  seized  for  the  same  object.  The  navy  was  scattered  in 
distant  seas,  leaving  but  a  very  small  part  of  it  within  the  im- 
mediate reach  of  the  Government.  '"**  /* 

Officers  of  the  Federal  Army  had  resigned  in  great  numbers, 
and  of  those  resigning  a  large  proportion  had  taken  up  arms 
against  the  Government. 

Simultaneously,  and  in  connection  with  all  this,  the  pur- 
pose to  sever  the  Federal  Union  was  openly  avowed.  In  ac- 
cordance with  this  purpose  an  ordinance  had  been  adopted  in 
each  of  these  States,  declaring  the  States  respectively  to  be 
separated  from  the  National  Union.  A  formula  for  instituting 
a  combined  GoTernment  of  those  States  had  been  promulgated, 
and  this  illegal  organization,  in  the  character  of  the  "Confed- 
erate States,"  was  already  invoking  recognition,  aid  and  inter- 
vention from  foreign  powers. 

Finding  this  condition  of  things,  and  believing  it  to  be  an 
imperative  duty  upon  the  incoming  Executive  to  prevent,  if 
possible,  the  consummation  of  such  attempt  to  destroy  the 
Federal  Union,  a  choice  of  means  to  that  end  became  indis- 
pensable. This  choice  was  made  and  was  declared  in  the  In- 
augural Address. 

The  policy  chosen  looked  to  the  exhaustion  of  all  peaceful 
measures  before  a  resort  to  any  stronger  ones.  It  sought  only 
to  hold  the  public  places  and  property  not  already  wrested 
from  the  Government,  and  to  collect  the  revenue,  relying  for 
the  rest  on  time,  discussion  and  the  ballot-box.  It  promised  a 
continuance  of  the  mails,  at  Government  expense,  to  the  very 
people  who  were  resisting  the  Government,  and  it  gave  re- 
peated pledges  against  any  disturbances  to  any  of  the  people, 
or  any  of  their  rights,  of  all  that  which  a  President  might  con- 


25G  LIFE   OP   ABRAHAM   LINCOLN. 

stitutionally  and  justifiably  do  in  such  a  case ;  every  thing  was 
forbarne,  without  which  it  was  believed  possible  to  keep  the 
Government  on  foot. 

On  the  5th  of  March,  the  present  incumbent's  first  full  day 
in  office,  a  letter  from  Major  Anderson,  commanding  at  Fort 
Sumter,  written  on  the  28th  of  February,  and  received  at  the 
War  Department  on  the  4t,h  of  March,  was  by  that  Department 
placed  in  his  hands.  This  letter  expressed  the  professional 
opinion  of  the  writer,  that  reinforcements  could  not  be  thrown 
into  that  fort  within  the  time  for  its  relief  rendered  necessary 
by  the  limited  supply  of  provisions,  and  with  a  view  of  holding 
possession  of  the  same,  with  a  force  less  than  20,000  good  and 
well-disciplined  men.  This  opinion  was  concurred  in  by  all 
the  officers  of  his  command,  and  their  memoranda  on  the  sub- 
ject were  made  inclosures  of  Major  Anderson's  letter.  The 
whole  was  immediately  laid  before  Lieut.  Gen.  Scott,  who  at 
once  concurred  with  Major  Anderson  in  his  opinion.  On  re- 
flection, however,  he  took  full  time,  consulting  with  other  dffi- 
cers,  both  of  the  Army  and  Navy,  and  at  the  end  of  four  days 
came  reluctantly  but  decidedly  to  the  same  conclusion  as  be- 
fore. He  also  stated  at  the  same  time  that  no  such  sufficient 
force  was  then  at  the  control  of  the  Government,  or  could  be 
raised  and  brought  to  the  ground,  within  the  time  when  the 
provisions  in  the  fort  would  be  exhausted.  In  a  purely  mili- 
tary point  of  view,  this  reduced  the  duty  of  the  Administra- 
tion in  the  case  to  the  mere  matter  of  getting  the  garrison 
safely  out  of  the  fort. 

It  was  believed,  however,  that  to  so  abandon  that  position, 
under  the  circumstances,  would  be  utterly  ruinous ;  that  the 
necessity  under  which  it  was  to  be  done  would  not  be  fully  un- 
derstood ;  that  by  many  it  would  be  construed  as  a  part  of  a 
voluntary  policy;  that  at  home  it  would  discourage  the 
friends 'of  the  Union,  embolden  its  adversaries,  and  go  far  to 
insure  to  the  latter  a  recognition  abroad ;  that,  in  fact,  it 
would  be  our  national  destruction  consummated.  This  could 
not  be  allowed.  Starvation  was  not  yet  upon  the  garrison,  and 
ere  it  would  be  reached,  Fort  Pickens  might  be  reenforced. 
This  last  would  be  a  clear  indication  of  policy,  and  would  bet- 
ter enable  the  country  to  accept  the  evacuation  of  Fort  Sumter 
as  a  military  necessity.  An  order  was  at  once  directed  to  be 
sent  for  the  landing  of  the  troops  from  the  steamship  Brook- 
lyn into  Fort  Pickens.  This  order  could  not  go  by  land,  but 
must  take  the  longer  and  slower  route  by  sea.  The  first  re- 
turn news  from  the  order  was  received  just  one  week  before  the 
fall  of  Sumter.  The  news  itself  was  that  the  officer  command- 
ing the  Sabiue,  to  which  vessel  the  troops  had  been  transferred 


LIFE   OP   ABRAHAM   LINCOLN.  257 

from  the  Brooklyn,  acting  upon  some  quasi  armistice  of  the 
late  Administration,  and  of  the  existence  of  which  the  present 
Administration,  up  to  the  time  the  order  was  dispatched,  had 
only  too  vague  and  uncertain  rumors  to  fix  attention,  had  re- 
fused to  land  the  troops.  To  now  reenforce  Fort  Pickens  be- 
fore a  crisis  would  be  reached  at  Fort  Sumter  was  impossible, 
rendered  so  by  the  near  exhaustion  of  provisions  at  the  latter 
named  fort.  In  precaution  against  such  a  conjuncture  tho 
Government  had  a  few  days  before  commenced  preparing  an 
expedition,  as  well  adapted  as  might  be,  to  relieve  Fort  Sum- 
ter, which  expedition  was  intended  to  be  ultimately  used  or 
not,  according  to  circumstances.  The  strongest  anticipated 
case  for  using  it  was  now  presented,  and  it  was  resolved  to  send 
it  forward  as  had  been  intended.  In  this  contingency  it  was 
also  resolved  to  notify  the  Governor  of  South  Carolina  that  he 
might  expect  an  attempt  would  be  made  to  provision  the  fort, 
and  that  if  the  attempt  should  not  be  resisted  there  would  be 
no  attempt  to  throw  in  men,  arms  or  ammunition,  without  fur- 
ther notice,  or  in  case  of  an  attack  upon  the  fort.  This  no- 
tice was  accordingly  given,  whereupon  the  fort  was  attacked 
and  bombarded  to  its  fall,  without  even  awaiting  the  arrival  of 
the  provisioning  expedition. 

It  is  thus  seen  that  the  assault  upon  and  reduction  of 
Fort  Sumter,  was,  in  no  sen^e.  a  matter  of  self-defense  on  the 
part  of  the  assailants.  They  well  knew  that  the  garrison  in 
the  fort  could  by  no  possibility  commit  aggression  \vpon  them  ; 
they  knew  they  were  expressly  notified  th;it  the  giving  of  bread 
to  the  few  brave  and  hungry  men  of  the  garrison  was  all  which, 
would,  on  that  occasion,  be  attempted,  unless  themselves,  by 
resisting  so  much,  should  provoke  more.  They  knew  that  this 
Government  desired  to  keep  the  garrison  iu  the  fort,  riov  to 
assail  thorn,  but  merely  to  maintain  visible  possession,  and  ihu" 
to  preserve  the  Union  from  actual  and  immediate  dissoluiion : 
trusting,  as  hereinbefore  stated,  to  time,  discussion,  ami  llie 
ballot-box  for  final  adjustment,  and  they  assailed  aud  reduced 
the  fort,  for  precisely  the  reverse  object,  to  drive  out  the  visible 
authority  of  the  Federal  Union,  and  thus  force  it  to  immediate 
dissolution  ;  that  this  was  their  object  the  Executive  well  under- 
stood, having  said  to  them  iu  the  Inaugural  Address,  ;'  you  can 
have  no  conflict  without  being  yourselves  the  aggressors."  He 
took  p.; ins  not  only  to  keep  this  declaration  good,  but  also  to  keep 
tho  c-ii-8  so  far  from  ingenious  sophistry  as  that  the  world  should 
not  misunderstand  it.  By  the  affair  at  Fort  Sumter.,  with  its  sur- 
rounding circumstances,  that  point  was  reached.  Then  and  there- 
by the  assailants  of  the  Government  began  the  conflict  of  arms — 
without  a  gun  in  sight,  or  in  expectancy,  to  return  their  fire. 


258  LIFE    OF   ABRAHAM    LINCOLN. 

save  only  the  few  in  the  fort  Bent  to  that  harbor  years  before, 
for  their  own  protection,  and  still  ready  to  give  that  protection 
in  whatever  was  lawful.  In  this  act,  discarding  all  else,  they 
have  forced  upon  the  country  the  distinct  issue,  immediate  dis- 
solution or  blood,  and  this  issue  embraces  more  than  the  fate 
of  these  United  States.  It  presents  to  the  whole  family  of 
man  the  question  whether  a  Constitutional  Republic  or  Democ- 
racy, a  Government  of  the  people,  by  the  same  people,  can  or 
can  not  maintain  its  territorial  integrity  against  its  own  domestic 
foes.  It  presents  the  question  whether  discontented  individuals, 
too  few  in  numbers  to  control  the  Administration  according  to 
the  organic  law  in  any  case,  can  always,  upon  the  pretenses 
made  in  this  case,  or  any  other  pretenses,  or  arbitrarily  without 
any  pretense,  break  up  their  Government,  and  thus  practically 
put  an  end  to  free  government  upon  the  earth.  It  forces  us  to 
ask,  "  Is  there  in  all  republics  this  inherent  and  fatal  weak- 
ness?" Must  a  Government  of  necessity  be  too  strong  for  the 
liberties  of  its  own  people,  or  too  weak  to  maintain  its  own 
existence?  So  viewing  the  issue,  no  choice  was  left  but  to  call 
out  the  war  power  of  the  Government,  and  so  to  resist  the  force 
employed  for  its  destruction  by  force  for  its  preservation.  The 
call  was  made,  and  the  response  of  the  country  was  most  grati- 
fying, surpassing,  in  unanimity  and  spirit,  the  most  sanguine 
expectation.  Yet  none  of  the  States,  commonly  called  Slave 
States,  except  Delaware,  gave  a  regiment  through  the  regular 
State  organization.  A  few  regiments  have  been  organized 
within  some  others  of  those  States  by  individual  enterprise,  and 
received  into  the  Government  service.  Of  course  the  seceded 
States,  so  called,  and  to  which  Texas  had  been  joined  about  the 
time  of  the  inauguration,  gave  no  troops  to  the  cause  of  the 
Union.  The  Border  States,  so  called,  were  not  uniform  in  their 
action,  some  of  them  being  almost  for  the  Union,  while  in 
others,  as  in  Virginia,  North  Carolina,  Tennessee,  and  Arkan- 
sas, the  Union  sentiment  was  nearly  repressed  and  silenced. 
The  course  taken  in  Virginia  was  the  most  remarkable,  perhaps 
the  most  important.  A  Convention,  elected  by  the  people  of 
that  State  to  consider  this  very  question  of  disrupting  tho 
Federal  Union,  was  in  session  at  the  capital  of  Virginia  when 
Fort  Sumter  fell. 

To  this  body  the  people  had  chosen  a  large  majority  of  pro- 
fessed Union  men.  Almost  immediately  after  the  fall  of  Sumter 
many  members  of  that  majority  went  over  to  the  original  dis- 
union minority,  and  with  them  adopted  an  ordinance  for  with- 
drawing the  State  from  the  Union.  Whether  this  change  was 
wrought  by  their  great  approval  of  the  assault  upon  Sumter,  or 
their  great  resentment  at  the  Government's  resistance  to  that 


LIFB   OP  ABRAHAM   LINCOLN.  259 

assault,  is  not  definitely  known.  Although  they  submitted  the 
ordinance  for  ratification  to  a  vote  of  the  people,  to  be  taken 
on  a  day  then  somewhat  more  than  a  month  distant,  the  Con- 
vention and  the  Legislature,  which  was  also  in  session  at  the 
saaie  time  and  place,  with  leading  men  of  the  State,  not  mem- 
bers of  either,  immediately  commenced  acting  as  if  the  State  was 
already  out  of  the  Union.  They  pushed  military  preparations 
vigorously  forward  all  over  the  State.  They  seized  the  United 
States  Armory  at  Harper's  Ferry,  and  the  Navy  Yard  at  Gos- 
port,  near  Norfolk.  They  received,  perhaps  invited  into  their 
State,  large  bodies  of  troops,  with  their  warlike  appointments, 
from  the  so-called  seceded  States. 

They  formally  entered  into  a  treaty  of  temporary  alliance 
with  the  so-called  Confederate  States,  and  sent  members  to  their 
Congress  at  Montgomery,  and  finally  they  permitted  the  insur- 
rectionary Government  to  be  transferred  to  their  capitol  at 
Richmond.  The  people  of  Virginia  have  thus  allowed  this 
giant  insurrection  to  make  its  nest  within  her  borders,  and  this 
Government  has  no  choice  left  but  to  deal  with  it  where  it  finds 
it,  and  it  has  the  less  to  regret  as  the  loyal  citizens  have,  in 
due  form,  claimed  its  protection.  Those  loyal  citizens  this 
Government  is  bound  to  recognize  and  protect  as  being  in  Vir- 
ginia. In  the  Border  States,  so  called,  in  fact  the  Middle  States, 
there  are  those  who  favor  a  policy  which  they  call  armed  neu- 
trality, that  is,  an  arming  of  those  States  to  prevent  the  Union 
forces  passing  one  way  or  the  disunion  forces  the  other  over 
their  soil.  This  would  be  disunion  completed.  Figuratively 
speaking,  it  would  be  the  building  of  an  impassable  wall  along 
the  line  of  separation,  and  yet  not  quite  an  impassable  one,  for 
under  the  guise  of  neutrality  it  would  tie  the  hands  of  the 
Union  men,  and  freely  pass  supplies  from  among  them  to  the 
insurrectionists,  which  it  could  not  do  as  an  open  enemy.  At  a 
stroke  it  would  take  all  the  trouble  off  the  hands  of  secession, 
except  only  what  proceeds  from  the  external  blockade.  It 
would  do  for  the  disunionists  that  which  of  all  things  they 
most  desire,  feed  them  well  and  give  them  disunion  without  a 
struggle  of  their  own.  It  recognizes  no  fidelity  to  the  Consti- 
tution, no  obligation  to  maintain  the  Union,  and  while  very 
many  who  have  favored  it  are  doubtless  loyal  citizens,  it  is, 
nevertheless,  very  injurious  in  effect. 

Recurring  to  the  action  of  the  Government  it  may  be  stated 
that  at  first  a  call  was  made  for  75,000  militia,  and  rapidly  fol- 
lowing this  a  proclamation  was  issued  for  closing  the  ports  of 
the  insurrectionary  districts  by  proceedings  in  the  nature  of  a 
blockade.  So  far  all  was  believed  to  be  strictly  legal. 


2GO  LIFE   OP   ABRAHAM   LINCOLN. 

At  this  point  the  insurrectionists  announced  their  purpose  t« 
enter  upon  the  practice  of  privateering. 

Other  calls  were  made  for  volunteers,  to  serve  three  years, 
unless  sooner  discharged,  and  also  for  large  additions  to  the 
regular  army  and  navy.  These  measures,  whether  strictly  legal 
or  not,  were  ventured  upon  under  what  appeared  to  be  a  popular 
demand  and  a  public  necessity,  trusting  then,  as  now,  that  Con- 
gress would  ratify  them. 

It  is  believed  that  nothing  has  been  done  beyond  the  consti- 
tutional competency  of  Congress.  Soon  after  the  first  call  for 
militia  it  was  considered  a  duty  to  authorize  the  Commanding 
General,  in  proper  cases,  according  to  his  discretion,  to  suspend 
the  privilege  of  the  writ  of  habeas  corpus ;  or,  in  other  words, 
to  arrest  and  detain,  without  resort  to  the  ordinary  processes 
and  forms  of  law,  such  individuals  as  he  might  deem  danger- 
ous to  the  public  safety.  This  authority  has  purposely  been 
exercised,  but  very  sparingly.  Nevertheless  the  legality  aud 
propriety  of  what  has  been  done  under  it  are  questioned,  and 
the  attention  of  the  country  has  been  called  to  the  proposition 
that  one  who  is  sworn  to  take  care  that  the  laws  be  faithfully 
executed,  should  not  himself  violate  them.  Of  course  some 
consideration  was  given  to  the  questions  of  power  and  propriety 
before  this  matter  was  acted  upon.  The  whole  of  the  laws 
which  were  required  to  be  faithfully  executed  were  being 
resisted,  and  failing  of  execution  in  nearly  one-third  of  the 
States.  Must' they  be  allowed  to  finally  fail  of  execution,  even 
had  it  been  perfectly  clear  that,  by  use  of  the  means  necessary 
to  their  execution,  some  single  law,  made  in  such  extreme  ten- 
derness of  the  citizen's  liberty  that  practically  it  relieves  more 
of  the  guilty  than  the  innocent,  should,  to  a  very  great  extent, 
be  violated  ?  To  state  the  question  more  directly,  are  all  the 
laws  but  one  to  go  unexecuted,  and  the  Government  itself  to 
go  to  pieces  lest  that  one  be  violated  ?  Even  in  such  a  case 
would  not  the  official  oath  be  broken  if  the  Government  should 
be  overthrown  when  it  was  believed  that  disregarding  the  single 
law  would  tend  to  preserve  it. 

But  it  was  not  believed  that  this  question  was  presented.  It 
was  not  believed  that  any  law  was  violated.  The  provision  of 
the  Constitution,  that  the  privilege  of  the  writ  of  habeas  corpus 
shall  not  be  suspended,  unless  when,  in  cases  of  rebellion  or 
invasion,  the  public  safety  may  require  it,  is  equivalent  to  a 
provision  that  such  privilege  may  be  suspended  when,  in  cases 
of  rebellion  or  invasion,  the  public  safety  does  require  it.  It 
was  decided  that  we  have  a  case  of  rebellion,  and  that  the  public 
safety  does  require  the  qualified  suspension  of  the  privilege  of  the 
writ,  which  was  authorized  to  be  made.  Now,  it  is  insisted  that 


LIFE   OF  ABRAHAM  LINCOLN.  261 

Congress,  and  not  the  Executive,  is  vested  with  this  power. 
But  the  Constitution  itself  is  silent  as  to  which  or  who  is  to 
exercise  the  power  ;  and  as  the  provision  was  plainly  made  for 
a  dangerous  emergency,  it  can  not  be  believed  that  the  framers 
of  the  instrument  intended  that  in  every  case  the  danger 
should  run  its  course  until  Congress  could  be  called  together, 
the  very  assembling  of  which  might  be  prevented,  as  was 
intended  in  this  case  by  the  rebellion.  No  more  extended  argu- 
ment is  now  afforded,  as  an  opinion  at  some  length  will  prob- 
ably be  presented  by  the  Attorney-General.  Whether  there 
shall  be  any  legislation  on  the  subject,  and  if  so,  what,  is  sub- 
mitted entirely  to  the  better  judgment  of  Congress.  The 
forbearance  of  this  Government  had  been  so  extraordinary,  and 
so  long  continued,  as  to  lead  some  foreign  nations  to  shape 
their  action  as  if  they  supposed  the  early  destruction  of  our 
National  Union  was  probable.  While  this,  on  discovery,  gave 
the  Executive  some  concern,  he  is  now  happy  to  say  that  the 
sovereignty  and  rights  of  the  United  States  are  now  every-where 
practically  respected  by  foreign  Powers,  and  a  general  sympa- 
thy with  the  country  is  manifested  throughout  the  world. 

The  reports  of  the  Secretaries  of  the  Treasury,  War,  and  the 
Navy,  will  give  the  information,  in  detail,  deemed  necessary 
and  convenient  for  your  deliberation  and  action,  while  the  Ex- 
ecutive and  all  the  Departments  will  stand  ready  to  supply 
omissions  or  to  communicate  new  facts  considered  important  for 
you  to  know. 

It  is  now  recommended  that  you  give  the  legal  means  for 
making  this  contest  a  short  and  decisive  one  ;  that  you  place  at 
the  control  of  the  Government  for  the  work  at  least  400,000 
men  and  8400,000,000  ;  that  number  of  men  is  about  one-tenth 
of  those  of  proper  ages  within  the  regions  where  apparently  all 
are  willing  to  engage,  and  the  sum  is  less  than  a  twenty-third 
part  of  the  money  value  owned  by  the  men  who  seem  ready  to 
devote  the  whole.  A  debt  of  $600,000,000  now  is  a  less  sum 
per  head  than  was  the  debt  of  our  Revolution  when  we  came 
out  of  that  struggle,  and  the  money  value  in  the  country  bears 
even  a  greater  proportion  to  what  it  was  then  than  does  the 
population.  Surely  each  man  has  as  strong  a  motive  now  to 
preserve  our  liberties  as  each  had  then  to  establish  them. 

A  right  result  at  this  time  will  be  worth  more  to  the  world 
than  ten  times  the  men  and  ten  times  the  money.  The  evi- 
dence reaching  us  from  the  country  leaves  no  doubt  that  the 
material  for  the  work  is  abundant,  and  that  it  needs  only  the 
hand  of  legislation  to  give  it  legal  sanction,  and  the  hand  of 
the  Executive  to  give  it  practical  shape  and  efficiency.  One 
of  the  greatest  perplexities  of  the  Government  is  to  avoid 


262  LIFE  OF  ABRAHAM  LINCOLN. 

receiving  troops  faster  than  it  can  provide  for  them ;  in  a  word, 
the  people  will  save  their  Government  if  the  Government  will 
do  its  part  only  indifferently  well.  Jt  might  seem  at  first 
thought  to  be  of  little  difference  whether  the  present  movement 
at  the  South  be  called  secession  or  rebellion.  The  movers, 
however,  well  understand  the  difference.  At  the  beginning 
they  knew  that  they  could  never  raise  their  treason  to  any 
respectable  magnitude  by  any  name  which  implies  violation  of 
law ;  they  knew  their  people  possessed  as  much  of  moral  sense, 
as  much  of  devotion  to  law  and  order,  and  as  much  pride  in  its 
reverence  for  the  fiistory  and  Government  of  their  common 
country,  as  any  other  civilized  and  patriotic  people.  They 
knew  they  could  make  no  advancement  directly  in  the  teeth  of 
these  strong  and  noble  sentiments.  Accordingly  they  com- 
menced by  an  insidious  debauching  of  the  public  mind ;  they 
invented  an  ingenious  sophism,  which,  if  conceded,  was  followed 
by  perfectly  logical  steps  through  all  the  incidents  of  the  com- 
plete destruction  of  the  Union.  The  sophism  itself  is  that  any 
State  of  the  Union  may,  consistently  with  the  Nation's  Consti- 
tution, and  therefore  lawfully  and  peacefully,  withdraw  from 
the  Union  without  the  consent  of  the  Union  or  of  any  other 
State. 

The  little  disguise  that  the  supposed  right  is  to  be  exercised 
only  for  just  cause,  themselves  to  be  the  sole  judge  of  its 
justice,  is  too  thin  to  merit  any  notice  with  rebellion.  Thus 
sugar-coated,  they  have  been  drugging  the  public  mind  of  their 
section  for  more  than  thirty  years,  and  until  at  length  they 
have  brought  many  good  men  to  a  willingness  to  take  up  arms 
against  the  Government  the  day  after  some  assemblage  of  men 
have  enacted  the  farcical  pretense  of  taking  their  State  out  of 
the  Union,  who  could  have  been  brought  to  no  such  thing  the 
day  before.  This  sophism  derives  much,  perhaps  the  whole  of 
its  currency,  from  the  assumption  that  there  is  some  omnipo- 
tent and  sacred  supremacy  pertaining  to  a  State,  to  each  State 
of  our  Federal  Union.  Our  States  have  neither  more  nor  less 
power  than  that  reserved  to  them  in  the  Union  by  the  Consti- 
tution, no  one  of  them  ever  having  been  a  State  out  of  the 
Union.  The  original  ones  passed  into  the  Union  before  they 
cast  off  their  British  Colonial  dependence,  and  the  new  ones 
came  into  the  Union  directly  from  a  condition  of  dependence, 
excepting  Texas,  and  even  Texas,  in  its  temporary  indepen- 
dence, was  never  designated  as  a  State.  The  new  ones  only  took 
the  designation  of  States  on  coming,  into  the  Union,  while  that 
name  was  first  adopted  for  the  old  ones  in  and  by  the  Declara- 
tion of  Independence.  Therein  the  United  Colonies  were  de- 
clared to  be  free  and  independent  States.  But  even  then  the 


LIFE   OF   ABRAHAM    LINCOLN.  263 

object  plainly  was  not  to  declare  their  independence  of  one 
another  of  the  Union,  but  directly  the  contrary,  as  their  mutual 
pledge  and  their  mutual  action  before,  at  the  time,  and  after- 
ward, abundantly  show.  The  express  plight  of  faith  by  each 
and  all  of  the  original  thirteen  States  in  the  Articles  of  Con- 
federation two  years  later  that  the  Union  shall  be  perpetual,  is 
most  conclusive.  Having  never  been  States  either  in  substance 
or  in  name  outside  of  the  Union,  whence  this  magical  omnipo- 
tence of  State  rights,  asserting  a  claim  of  power  to  lawfully 
destroy  the  Union  itself.  Much  is  said  about  the  sovereignty 
of  the  States,  but  the  word  even  is  not  in  4he  National  Consti- 
tution, nor,  as  is  believed,  in  any  of  the  State  constitutions. 
What  is  sovereignty  in  the  political  sense  of  the  word  ?  Would 
it  be  far  wrong  to  define  it  a  political  community  without  a 
political  superior  ?  Tested  by  this  no  one  of  our  States,  except 
Texas,  was  a  sovereignty,  and  even  Texas  gave  up  the  character 
on  coming  into  the  Union,  by  which  act  she  acknowledged  the 
Constitution  of  the  United  States  ;  and  the  laws  and  treaties  of 
the  United  States,  made  in  pursuance  of  States,  have  their 
status  in  the  Union,  made  in  pursuance  of  the  Constitution,  to 
be  for  her  the  supreme  law.  The  States  have  their  status  in 
the  Union,  and  they  have  no  other  legal  status.  If  they  break 
from  this  they  can  only  do  so  against  law  and  by  revolution. 
The  Union  and  not  themselves  separately  procured  their  inde- 
pendence and  their  liberty  by  conquest  or  purchase.  The 
Union  gave  each  of  them  whatever  of  independence  and  liberty 
it  has.  The  Union  is  older  than  any  of  the  States,  and,  in  fact, 
it  created  them,  as  States.  Originally,  some  dependent  Colo- 
nies made  the  Union,  and  in  turn  the  Union  threw  off  their 
old  dependence  for  them  and  made  them  States,  such  as  they 
are.  Not  one  of  them  ever  had  a  State  constitution  indepen- 
dent of  the  Union.  Of  course  it  is  not  forgotten  that  all  the 
new  States  formed  their  constitutions  before  they  entered  the 
Union  ;  nevertheless,  dependent  upon,  and  preparatory  to  com- 
ing into  the  Union.  Unquestionably  the  States  have  the  pow- 
ers and  rights  reserved  to  them  in  and  by  the  National  Consti- 
tution. 

But  among  these  surely  are  not  included  all  conceivable 
powers,  however  mischievous  or  destructive,  but  at  most  such 
only  as  were  known  in  the  world  at  the  time  as  governmental 
powers,  and  certainly  a  power  to  destroy  the  Government  itself 
had  never  been  known  as  a  governmental,  as  a  merely  adminis- 
trative power.  This  relative  matter  of  National  power  and 
State  rights  as  a  principle,  is  no  other  than  the  principle  of 
generality  and  locality.  Whatever  concerns  the  whole  should 
be  conferred  to  the  whole  General  Government,  while  whatever 


264  LIFE   OP   ABRAHAM   LINCOLN. 

concerns  only  the  State  should  be  left  exclusively  to  the  State. 
This  is  all  there  is  of  original  principle  about  it.  W  hether  the 
National  Constitution,  in  defining  boundaries  between  the  two, 
has  applied  the  principle  with  exact  accuracy,  is  not  to  be  ques- 
tioned. We  are  all  bound  by  that  defining  without  question. 
What  is  now  combatted  is  the  position  that  secession  is  con- 
sistent with  the  Constitution,  is  lawful  and  peaceful.  It  is  not 
contended  that  there  is  any  express  law  for  it,  and  nothing 
should  ever  be  implied  as  law  which  leads  to  unjust  or  absurd 
consequences.  The  nation  purchased  with  money  the  countries 
.out  of  which  several  of  these  States  were  formed.  Is  it  just 
that  they  shall  go  off  without  leave  and  without  refunding? 
The  nation  paid  very  large  sums  in  the  aggregate,  I  believe 
nearly  a  hundred  millions,  to  relieve  Florida  of  the  aboriginal 
tribes.  Is  it  just  that  she  shall  now  be  off  without  consent,  or 
without  any  return  ?  The  nation  is  now  in  debt  for  money  ap- 
plied to  the  benefit  of  these  so-called  seceding  States,  in  com- 
mon with  the  rest.  Is  it  just,  either  that  creditors  shall  go 
unpaid,  or  the  remaining  States  pay  the  whole  ?  A  part  of  the 
present  National  debt  was  contracted  to  pay  the  old  debt  of 
Texas.  Is  it  just  that  she  shall  leave  and  pay  no  part  of  this 
herself?  Again,  if  one  State  may  secede  so  may  another,  and 
when  all  shall  have  seceded  none  is  left  to  pay  the  debts.  Is 
this  quite  just  to  creditors?  Did  we  notify  them  of  this  sage 
view  of  ours  when  we  borrowed  their  money?  If  we  now 
recognize  this  doctrine  by  allowing  the  seceders  to  go  in  peace, 
it  is  difficult  to  see  what  we  can  do  if  others  choose  to  go,  or 
to  extort  terms  upon  which  they  will  promise  to  remain.  The 
seceders  insist  that  our  Constitution  admits  of  secession.  They 
have  assumed  to  make  a  National  Constitution  of  their  own, 
in  which,  of  necessity,  they  have  either  discarded  or  retained 
the  right  of  secession,  as  they  insist  exists  in  ours.  If  they 
have  discarded  it,  they  thereby  admit  that  on  principle  it  ought 
not  to  exist  in  ours  ;  if  they  have  retained  it,  by  their  own  con- 
struction of  ours  that  shows  that  to  be  consistent,  they  must 
secede  from  one  another  whenever  they  shall  find  it  the  easiest 
way  of  settling  their  debts,  or  effecting  any  other  selfish  or 
unjust  object.  The  principle  itself  is  one  of  disintegration, 
and  upon  which  no  ^Government  can  possibly  endure.  If  all 
the  States  save  one  should  assert  the  power  to  drive  that  one 
out  of  the  Union,  it  is  presumed  the  whole  class  of  seceder  poli- 
ticians would  at  once  deny  the  power,  and  denounce  the  act  as 
the  greatest  outrage  upon  State  rights.  But  suppose  that  pre- 
cisely the  same  act,  instead  of  being  called  driving  the  one 
out,  should  be  called  the  seceding  of  the  others  from  that  one, 
it  would  be  exactly  what  the  Seceders  claim  to  do,  unless, 


LIFE   OF   ABRAHAM   LINCOLN.  265 

indeed,  they  made  the  point  that  the  one,  because  it  is  a 
minority,  may  rightfully  do  what  tho  others,  because  they  are 
a  majority,  may  not  rightfully  do.  These  politicians  are  subtle, 
and  profound  in  the  rights  of  minorities.  They  are  not  par- 
tial to  that  power  which  made  the  Constitution,  and  speaks  from 
the  preamble,  calling  itself,  "We,  the  people."  It  may  be  well 
questioned  whether  there  is  to-day  a  majority  of  the  legally 
qualified  voters  of  any  State,  except,  perhaps,  South  Carolina, 
in  favor  of  disunion.  There  is  much  reason  to  believe  that 
the  Union  men  are  the  majority  in  many,  if  not  in  every  one 
of  the  so-called  seceded  States.  The  contrary  has  not  been 
demonstrated  in  any  one  of  them.  It  is  ventured  to  affirm  this, 
even  of  Virginia  and  Tennessee,  for  the  result  of  an  election 
held  in  military  camps,  where  the  bayonets  are  all  on  one  side 
of  the  question  voted  upon,  can  scarcely  be  considered  as  de- 
monstrating popular  sentiment.  At  such  an  electhm  all  that 
large  class  who  are  at  once  for  the  Union  and  against  coercion 
would  be  coerced  to  vote  against  the  Union.  It  may  be  affirmed, 
without  extravagance,  that  the  free  institutions  we  enjoy  have 
developed  the  powers  and  improved  the  condition  of  our  whole 
people  beyond  any  example  in  the  world.  Of  this  we  now 
have  a  striking  and  impressive  illustration.  So  large  an  army 
as  the  Government  has  now  on  foot  was  never  before  known, 
without  a  soldier  in  it  but  who  has  taken  his  place  there  of  his 
own  free  choice.  But  more  than  this,  there  are  many  single 
regiments  whose  members,  one  and  another,  possess  full  practi- 
cal knowledge  o£  all  the  arts,  sciences,  professions,  and  what- 
ever else,  whether  useful  or  elegant,  is  known  in  the  whole 
world,  and  there  is  scarcely  one  from  which  there  could  not  be 
selected  a  President,  a  Cabinet,  a  Congress,  and  perhaps  a 
Court,  abundantly  competent  to  administer  the  Government 
itself.  Nor  do  I  say  this  is  not  true  also  in  the  army  of  our 
late  friends,  now  adversaries,  in  this  contest.  But  it  is  so  much 
better  the  reason  why  the  Government  which  has  conferred 
such  benefits  on  both  them  and  us  should  not  be  broken  up. 
Whoever  in  any  section  proposes  to  abandon  such  a  Govern- 
ment, would  do  well  to  consider  in  deference  to  what  principle 
it  is  that  he  does  it.  What  better  he  is  likely  to  get  in  its 
stead,  whether  the  substitute  will  give,  or  be  intended  to  give 
so  much  of  good  to  the  people.  There  are  some  foreshadow- 
ings  on  this  subject.  Our  adversaries  have  adopted  some  dechv- 
rations  of  independence  in  which,  unlike  our  good  old  one 
penned  by  Jefferson,  they  omit  the  words,  "  all  men  are  created 
equal."  Why?  They  have  adopted  a  temporary  National 
Constitution,  in  the  "preamble  of  which,  unlike  our  good  old 
t'ljc  signed  by  Washington,  they  omit,  '-Wo,  the  people,"  and 


266  LIFE   OP   ABRAHAM    LINCOLN. 

substitute  "We,  the  deputies  of  the  sovereign  and  independent 
States."  Why?  Why  this  deliberate  pressing  out  of  view 
the  rights  of  men  and  the  authority  of  the  people  ?  This  is 
essentially  a  people's  contest.  On  the  side  of  the  Union  it  is 
a  struggle  for  maintaining  in  the  world  that  form  and  substance 
of  Government  whose  leading  object  is  to  elevate  the  condition 
of  men,  to  lift  artificial  weights  from  all  shoulders,  to  clear  the 
paths  of  laudable  pursuit  for  all,  to  afford  all  an  unfettered 
start  and  a  fair  chance  in  the  race  of  life,  yielding  to  partial 
and  temporary  departures  from  necessity.  This  is  the  leading 
object  of  the  Government,  for  whose  existence  we  contend. 

I  am  most  happy  to  believe  that  the  plain  people  understand 
and  appreciate  this.  It  is  worthy  of  note  that  while  in  this, 
the  Government's  hour  of  trial,  large  numbers  of  those  in  the 
armv  and  navy  who  have  been  favored  with  the  offices,  have 
resigned  and  proved  false  to  the  hand  which  pampered  them, 
not  one  common  soldier  or  common  sailor  is  known  to  have 
deserted  his  flag.  Great  honor  is  due  to  those  officers  who 
remained  true  despite  the  example  of  their  treacherous  associ- 
ates, but  the  greatest  honor  and  the  most  important  fact  of  all, 
is  the  unanimous  firmness  of  the  common  soldiers  and  common 
sailors.  To  the  last  man,  so  far  as  known,  they  have  success- 
fully resisted  the  traitorous  efforts  of  those  whose  commands 
but  an  hour  before  they  obeyed  as  absolute  law.  This  is  the 
patriotic  instinct  of  plain  people.  They  understand  without  an 
argument  that  the  destroying  the  Government  which  was  made 
by  Washington  means  no  good  to  them.  Our  popular  Govern- 
ment has  often  been  called  an  experiment.  Two  points  in  it 
our  people  have  settled :  the  successful  establishing  and  the 
successful  administering  of  it.  One  still  remains.  Its  success- 
ful maintenance  against  a  formidable  internal  attempt  to  over- 
throw it.  It  is  now  for  them  to  demonstrate  to  the  world  that 
those  who  can  fairly  carry  an  election,  can  also  suppress  a  re- 
bellion ;  that  ballots  are  the  rightful  and  peaceful  successors  of 
bullets,  and  that  when  ballots  have  fairly  and  constitutionally 
decided,  there  can  be  no  successful  appeal  back  to  bullets  ;  that 
there  can  be  no  successful  appeal  except  to  ballots  themselves 
at  succeeding  elections.  Such  will  be  a  great  lesson  of  peace, 
teaching  men  that  what  they  can  not  take  by  an  election,  neither 
can  they  take  by  a  war,  teaching  all  the  folly  of  being  the 
beginners  of  a  war. 

Lest  there  be  some  uneasiness  in  the  minds  of  candid  men 
as  to  what  is  to  be  the  course  of  the  Government  toward  the 
Southern  States  after  the  rebellion  shall  have  been  sup- 
pressed, the  Executive  deems  it  proper  to  say  it  will  be  his 
purpose  then,  as  ever,  to  be  guided  by  the  Constitution  and 


LIFE   OP   ABRAHAM   LINCOLN.  267 

the  laws,  and  that  he  probably  will  have  no  different  under- 
standing of  the  powers  and  duties  of  the  Federal  Government 
relatively  to  the  rights  of  the  States  and  the  people  under  the 
Constitution  than  that  expressed  in  the  Inaugural  Address. 
He  desires  to  preserve  the  Government  that  it  may  be  adminis- 
tered for  all,  as  it  was  administered  by  the  men  who  made  it. 
Loyal  citizens  every-where  have  a  right  to  claim  this  of  their 
Government,  and  the  Government  has  no  right  to  withhold  or 
neglect  it.  It  is  not  perceived  that  in  giving  it  there  is  any 
coercion,  conquest  or  subjugation  in  any  sense  of  these  terms. 

The  Constitution  provided,  and  all  the  States  have  accepted 
the  provision,  "that  the  United  States  shall  guarantee  to  every 
State  in  this  Union  a  Republican  form  of  government,"  but  if 
a  State  may  lawfully  go  out  of  the  Union,  having  done  so,  it 
may  also  discard  the  Republican  form  of  Government.  So  that 
to  prevent  its  going  out  is  an  indispensable  means  to  the  end 
of  maintaining  the  guarantee  mentioned ;  and  when  an  end  is 
lawful  and  obligatory,  the  indispensable  means  to  it  are  also 
lawful  and  obligatory. 

It  was  with  the  deepest  regret  that  the  Executive  found  the 
duty  of  employing  the  war  power.  In  defense  of  the  Govern- 
ment forced  upon  him,  he  could  but  perform  this  duty  or  sur- 
render the  existence  of  the  Government.  No  compromise  by 
public  servants  could  in  this  case  be  a  cure,  not  that  com- 
promises are  not  often  proper,  but  that  no  popular  govern- 
ment can  long  survive  a  marked  precedent,  that  those  who 
carry  an  election  can  only  save  the  Government  from  immedi- 
ate destruction  by  giving  up  the  main  point  upon  which  the 
people  gave  the  election.  The  people  themselves  and  not 
their  servants  can  safely  reverse  their  own  deliberate  decisions. 

As  a  private  citizen  the  Executive  could  not  have  consented 
that  these  institutions  shall  perish,  much  less  could  he,  in  be- 
trayal of  so  vast  and  so  sacred  a  trust  as  these  free  people  had 
confided  to  him.  He  felt  that  he  had  no  moral  right  to 
shrink,  nor  even  to  count  the  chances  of  his  own  life  in  what 
might  follow. 

In  full  view  of  his  great  responsibility,  he  has  so  far  done 
what  he  has  deemed  his  duty.  You  will  now,  according  to 
your  own  judgment,  perform  yours.  He  sincerely  hopes  that 
your  views  and  your  actions  may  so  accord  with  his  as  to  as- 
sure all  faithful  citizens  who  have  been  disturbed  in  their 
rights,  of  a  certain  and  speedy  restoration  to  them,  under  the 
Constitution  and  laws,  and  having  thus  chosen  our  cause  with- 
out guile,  and  with  pure  purpose,  let  us  renew  our  trust  in 
God,  and  go  forward  without  fear  and  with  manly  hearts. 

July  4,  1861.  ABRAHAM  LINCOLN. 


268  LIFE    OF    ABRAHAM    LINCOLN. 

To  the  recommendation  that  $400,000,000  be  appropriated, 
and  400,000  men  raised,  for  the  prosecution  of  the  war,  Con- 
gress responded  with  great  unanimity,  granting  instead  $500,- 
000,000  in  money,  and  calling  for  500,000  volunteers  for  the 
army.  This  action  was  consummated  on  the  22d  of  July — the 
day  following  the  battle  of  Bull  Run.  The  Senate  had  passed 
a  bill  of  similar  character  on  the  10th — five  Senators,  Messrs. 
Johnson,  of  Missouri,  Kennedy,  Polk,  Powell  and  Saulsbury, 
voting  in  favor  of  an  amendment  reducing  the  number  of  men 
to  200,000.  Otherwise,  the  measure  was  unopposed  in  that 
body. 

On  the  22d  of  July,  the  House  of  Representatives  passed, 
with  only  two  dissenting  votes,  the  following  resolution,  intro- 
duced by  Mr.  Crittenden,  of  Kentucky : 

Resolved,  By  the  House  of  Representatives  of  the  Congress  of 
the  United  States,  That  the  present  deplorable  civil  war  has 
been  forced  upon  the  country  by  the  Disunionists  of  the 
Southern  States  now  in  revolt  against  the  Constitutional  Gov- 
ernment, and  in  arms  around  the  capital :  that  in  this  National 
emergency  Congress,  banishing  all  feeling  of  mere  passion  or 
resentment,  will  recollect  only  its  duty  to  the  whole  country ; 
that  this  war  is  not  waged  on  our  part  in  any  spirit  of  oppres- 
sion, nor  for  any  purpose  of  conquest  or  subjugation,  nor  pur- 
pose of  overthrowing  or  interfering  with  the  rights  or  estab- 
lished institutions  of  the  States,  but  to  defend  and  maintain 
the  supremacy  of  the  Constitution,  and  to  preserve  the  Union, 
with  all  the  dignities,  equality  and  rights  of  the  several  States 
unimpaired ;  and  that  as  soon  as  these  objects  are  accomplished 
the  war  ought  to  cease. 

On  the  10th  of  July,  a  bill  passed  the  House  of  Representa- 
tives, authorizing  the  Secretary  of  the  Treasury  to  effect  a  Na- 
tional loan,  of  not  exceeding  $250,000,000,  on  bonds  bearing 
seven  per  cent,  interest,  redeemable  in  twenty  years,  or  in 
Treasury-notes  of  a  denomination  not  less  than  $50,  payable  in 
three  years,  at  an  ^nterest  of  seven  and  three-tenths  per  cent. 
Only  five  Representatives  voted  in  the  negative,  namely: 
Messrs.  Burnett,  Reid,  Norton,  Vallandigham  and  Wood.  The 
first  three  of  these,  from  Kentucky  and  Missouri,  were  soon  af- 
ter direct  participants  in  the  rebellion,  either  as  civil  or  mili- 


LIFE   OF   ABRAHAM   LINCOLN.  269 

tary  officials.  The  subsequent  course  of  the  other  two,  living 
at  the  North,  has  been  steadily  in  keeping  with  this  asso- 
ciation of  their  names  and  acts. 

With  certain  modifications,  which  need  not  be  particular- 
ized, the  financial  policy  thus  indicated  was  ultimately  adopted 
by  both  houses  of  Congress,  and  approved  by  the  President. 
A  new  tariff  bill,  designed  to  increase  the  revenue  from  im- 
ports, and  a  direct  tax  bill  to  raise  $20,000,000,  also  became  a 
law  on  the  2d  of  August.  A  confiscation  act,  moderate  in  its 
provisions,  was  also  passed  near  the  close  of  the  session.  An 
act  legalizing  the  official  measures  of  the  President,  during  the 
recent  emergency,  received  the  support  of  nearly  every  mem- 
ber of  both  houses.  The  extra  session  closed  on  the  6th  day 
of  August. 

On  the  20th  day  of  July,  the  so-called  Congress  of  the  Rebel 
Confederacy  assembled  at  Richmond,  the  seat  of  the  civil 
branch  of  the  rebellion  having  been  removed  to  that  city  from 
Montgomery,  where  the  same  body  had  closed  its  first  session 
on  the  21st  of  May.  Eight  days  after  the  latter  date  Davis  ar- 
rived in  Richmond,  and  his  "  government"  was  there  put  in 
operation.  His  message  was  sent  in  on  the  20th  of  July.  He 
therein  congratulates  his  friends  on  the  accession  of  Virginia, 
North  Carolina,  Tennessee  and  Arkansas  to  the  seceding  sister- 
hood, making  in  all  eleven  States  against  twenty-three  still 
loyal.  The  subjoined  extracts  will  serve  to  show  the  general 
character  of  the  document,  giving  also  an  authentic  Southern 
view  of  the  contest  down  to  the  day  preceding  the  battle  of 
Manassas : 

I  deemed  it  advisable  to  direct  the  removal  of  the  several 
Executive  departments,  with  their  archives,  to  this  city,  to 
which  you  have  removed  the  seat  of  government.  Immedi- 
ately after  your  adjournment,  the  aggressive  movements  of  the 
enemy  required  prompt,  energetic  action.  The  accumulation 
of  his  forces  on  the  Potomac  sufficiently  demonstrated  that  his 
efforts  were  to  be  directed  against  Virginia,  and  from  no  point 
could  necessary  measures  for  her  defense  and  protection  be  so 
effectively  decided  as  from  her  own  capital.'  The  rapid  prog- 
ress of  events  for  the  last  few  weeks  has  fully  sufficed  to  lift 
the  vail,  behind  which  the  true  policy  and  purposes  of  the 


270  MFE    OP  ABRAHAM   LINCOLN. 

Government  of  the  United  States  had  been  previously  con- 
cealed. Their  odious  features  now  stand  fully  revealed.  The 
message  of  their  President,  and  the  action  of  their  Congress 
during  the  present  month,  confess  their  intention  of  the  sub- 
jugation of  these  States,  by  a  war  by  which  it  is  impossible 
to  attain  the  proposed  result,  while  its  dire  calamities,  not  to 
be  avoided  by  us,  will  fall  with  double  severity  on  themselves. 

Referring  to  the  hearty  response  of  Congress  to  the  recom- 
mendation  of  President  Lincoln  as  to  men  and  means  for  pros- 
ecuting the  war  begun  at  Fort  Sumter — the  responsibility  of 
which  he  vainly  endeavors,  by  angry  special  pleading,  to  fix 
upon  the  Government — Davis,  with  a  recklessness  commen- 
surate with  his  passion,  goes  on  to  say : 

These  enormous  preparations  in  men  and  money,  for  the 
conduct  of  the  war,  on  a  scale  more  grand  than  any  which  the 
new  world  ever  witnessed,  is  a  distinct  avowal,  in  the  eyes  of 
civilized  man,  that  the  United  States  are  engaged  in  a  conflict 
with  a  great  and  powerful  nation.  They  are  at  last  compelled 
to  abandon  the  pretense  of  being  engaged  in  dispersing  rioters 
and  suppressing  insurrections,  and  are  driven  to  the  acknowl- 
edgment that  the  ancient  Union  has  been  dissolved.  They 
recognize  the  separate  existence  of  these  Confederate  States, 
by  an  interdictive  embargo  and  blockade  of  all  commerce  be- 
tween them  and  the  United  States,  not  only  by  sea,  but  by 
land ;  not  only  in  ships,  but  in  cars ;  not  only  with  those  who 
bear  arms,  but  with  the  entire  population  of  the  Confederate 
States.  Finally,  they  have  repudiated  the  foolish  conceit  that 
the  inhabitants  of  this  Confederacy  are  still  citizens  of  the 
United  States ;  for  they  are  waging  an  indiscriminate  war  upon 
them  all  with  savage  ferocity,  unknown  in  modern  civilization. 

After  a  highly-wrought  picture  of  imaginary  outrages  perpe- 
trated in  Virginia  by  Federal  armies  that  had  scarcely  begun 
to  move,  except  in  Western  Virginia,  where  no  pretext  for  such 
complaints  existed,  and  by  the  Government  in  its  adoption  of 
the  policy  of  non-intercourse,  he  comes  to  the  case  of  certain 
captured  privateersmen  who  were  in  close  confinement,  awaiting 
their  trial  for  piracy.  No  terms  for  an  exchange  of  prisoners 
had  yet  been  agreed  upon — the  number  on  either  side  being 
very  small,  and  the  civil  bearings  of  the  question  being  yet  un- 
der consideration.  On  this  subject  Davis  fiercely  remarks. 


LIFE   OP   ABRAHAM   LINCOLN.  271 

The  prisoners  of  war  taken  by  the  enemy  on  board  the 
armed  schooner  Savannah,  sailing  under  our  commission,  were, 
as  I  was  credibly  advised,  treated  like  common  felons,  put  in 
irons,  confined  in  a  jail  usually  appropriated  to  criminals  of  the 
worst  dye,  and  threatened  with  punishment  as  such.  I  had 
made  application  for  the  exchange  of  these  prisoners  to  the 
commanding  officer  of  the  enemy's  squadron  off  Charleston, 
but  that  officer  had  already  sent  the  prisoners  to  New  York 
when  application  was  made.  I  therefore  deemed  it  my  duty  to 
renew  the  proposal  for  the  exchange  to  the  constitutional  Com- 
mander-in-chief of  the  Army  and  Navy  of  the  United  States, 
the  only  officer  having  control  of  the  prisoners.  To  this  end, 
I  dispatched  an  officer  to  him  under  a  flag  of  truce,  and,  in 
making  the  proposal,  I  informed  President  Lincoln  of  my  reso- 
lute purpose  to  check  all  barbarities  on  prisoners  of  war  by  such 
severity  of  retaliation  on  prisoners  held  by  us  as  should  secure 
the  abandonment  of  the  practice.  This  communication  was 
received  and  read  by  an  officer  in  command  of  the  United 
States  forces,  and  a  message  was  brought  from  him  by  the 
bearer  of  my  communication,  that  a  reply  would  be  returned 
by  President  Lincoln  as  soon  as  possible.  I  earnestly  hope  this 
promised  reply  (which  has  not  yet  been  received)  will  convey 
the  assurance  that  prisoners  of  war  will  be  treated,  in  this  un- 
happy contest,  with  that  regard  for  humanity,  which  has  made 
such  conspicuous  progress  in  the  conduct  of  modern  warfare. 
As  measures  of  precaution,  however,  and  until  this  promised 
reply  is  received,  I  still  retain  in  close  custody  some  officers  cap- 
tured from  the  enemy,  whom  it  had  been  my  pleasure  pre- 
viously to  set  at  large  on  parole,  and  whose  fate  must  neces- 
sarily depend  on  that  of  prisoners  held  by  the  enemy. 

The  bearer  of  the  communication  referred  to  in  this  extract 
had  cqme,  under  a  flag  of  truce,  to  the  headquarters  of  Gen. 
McDowell,  at  the  Arlington  House,  on  the  8th  of  July,  causing 
much  speculation,  for  a  brief  time,  as  to  the  object  of  his  mis- 
sion. Its  real  purport,  however,  was  soon  known.  Capt.  Tay- 
lor, who  bore  the  insolent  letter  of  Davis,  reported  to  the  latter, 
on  the  10th  of  July,  that  the  missive  had  been  delivered,  and 
added : 

After  reading  your  communication  to  Mr.  Lincoln,  Gen. 
Scott  informed  me  that  a  reply  would  be  returned  by  Mr.  Lin- 
coln as  soon  as  possible 


272  LIFE   OF   ABRAHAM   LINCOLN. 

It  would  be  more  than  doubtful,  on  sucli  equivocal  evidence 
alone,  whether  any  reply  was  ever  "  promised,"  or  even  remotely 
suggested  by  the  President.  Certain  it  is  that  he  made  neither 
promise  nor  reply.  At  a  subsequent  date  it  was  decided  to  put 
captured  privateersmen  on  the  same  footing  as  other  prisoners 
of  war. 

After  persuasive  allusions  to  the  Border  Slave  States,  with  a 
palliation  of  the  Kentucky  neutrality  so  unsparingly  dealt  with 
by  President  Lincoln  in  his  message,  the  Rebel  "  Executive  '* 
proceeds  to  other  topics  : 

The  operations  in  the  field  will  be  greatly  extended  by  reason 
of  the  policy  which  heretofore  has  been  secretly  entertained, 
and  is  now  avowed  and  acted  on  by  us.  The  forces  hitherto 
raised  provide  amply  for  the  defense  of  seven  States  which 
originally  organized  in  the  Confederacy,  as  is  evidently  the  fact, 
since,  with  the  exception  of  three  fortified  islands,  whose  de- 
fense is  efficiently  aided  by  a  preponderating  naval  force,  the 
enemy  has  been  driven  completely  out  of  these  stations ;  and 
now,  at  the  expiration  of  five  months  from  the  formation  of  the 
Government,  not  a  single  hostile  foot  presses  their  soil.  These 
forces,  however,  must  necessarily  prove  inadequate  to  repel 
invasion  by  the  half  million  of  men  now  proposed  by  the  ene- 
my, and  a  corresponding  increase  of  our  forces  will  become 
necessary. 

To  speak  of  subjugating  such  a  people,  so  united  and  deter- 
mined, is  to  speak  in  a  language  incomprehensible  to  them ;  to 
resist  attack  on  their  rights  or  their  liberties  is  with  them  an 
instinct.  Whether  this  war  shall  last  one,  or  three,  or  five 
years,  is  a  problem  they  leave  to  be  solved  by  the  enemy  alone. 
It  will  last  till  the  enemy  *shall  have  withdrawn  from  their  bor- 
ders ;  till  their  political  rights,  their  altars,  and  their  homes 
are  freed  from  invasion,  Then,  and  then  only,  will  they  res* 
from  this  struggle  to  enjoy,  in  peace,  the  blessings  which,  with 
the  favor  of  Providence,  they  have  secured  by  the  aid  of  their 
own  strong  hearts  and  steady  arms. 

It  may  be  added  that  the  chief  conspirator  found  his  subor- 
dinates of  the  self-styled  Confederate  Congress  ready  to  second 
his  wishes,  and  to  act  in  the  spirit  of  his  communication  to  them. 
They  voted,  without  stint — in  their  assumption  of  authority — 
men  and  means  for  carrying  on  aggressive  as  well  as  defensive 
war,  on  the  scale  planned  by  their  chief. 


LIFE   OP   ABRAHAM    LINCOLN.  273 

The  issue  was  now  fairly  joined.  No  possible  solution  re- 
mained but  one  to  be  achieved  by  arms,  and  the  most  serious 
stage  of  the  contest  seemed  to  be  at  hand.  On  both  sides  the 
armies  were  rapidly  filling  up,  and  receiving  the  necessary 
organization  and  discipline  under  leaders  deemed,  at  the  time, 
best  suited  for  the  emergency.  Prom  this  time  onward,  the 
history  of  Mr.  Lincoln's  Administration  is,  to  a  large  extent, 
merged  in  that  of  the  war.  The  most  important  measures  of 
legislation  and  all  the  principal  Executive  acts  and  orders,  are 
closely  related  to  the  suppression  of  a  revolt  which  surpasses, 
in  the  magnitude  of  its  proportions  and  of  the  final  issues 
involved,  any  other  recorded  in  authentic  annals. 


274  LIFE  OF  ABRAHAM   LINCOLH. 


CHAPTER  IV. 

Military  Reorganization.— Resume  of  Events  to  the  December  Session 
of  Congress. — Action  in  Regard  to  "Contrabands"  and  Slavery. 

THE  first  depression  which  followed  the  disaster  at  Manassas, 
speedily  gave  place  to  an  uprising  of  the  loyal  sentiment  of  the 
nation,  surpassing  in  earnestness  and  grandeur  even  that  which 
immediately  succeeded  the  fall  of  Fort  Sumter.  For  this 
effect  in  deepening  and  strengthening  the  popular  determination, 
the  Rebel  cause  had  received  no  substantial  compensation 
through  its  barren  victory.  The  losses  were  too  nearly  equal, 
the  ground  won  was  too  insignificant,  and  the  fruits  which 
might  have  been  gathered  by  a  Napoleonic  general  had  too 
completely  eluded  the  grasp  of  Beauregard  and  his  superior, 
Davis,  (who  had  come  up  from  Richmond  just  in  time  to  wit- 
ness the  closing  spectacle),  to  afford  real  occasion  for  the  exul- 
tation universally  manifested  throughout  the  territory  occupied 
by  the  insurgents.  Yet,  at  home  and  abroad,  the  immediate 
effect  was  auspicious  in  appearance  for  the  now  very  sanguine 
leaders  of  secession.  They  looked  forward  to  nothing  less  than 
early  occupation  of  Washington,  with  the  subjection  of  Mary- 
land, Delaware,  Kentucky  and  Missouri,  under  an  armed  inva- 
sion, and  a  recognition,  throughout  the  world,  of  the  Rebel 
Empire. 

A  prompt  reorganization  of  our  armies  in  front  of  Washing- 
ton and  in  the  Shenandoah  was  ordered  by  the  President. 
Whatever  the  merits  of  McDowell,  it  was  necessary  to  call 
another  to  his  place  who  could  better  command  the  public  con- 
fidence. The  ardent  dispatches  of  the  young  commander  in 
West  Virginia  were  yet  fresh  in  all  minds.  He  had  the  favor- 
ing support  of  Gen.  Scott,  and  on  every  side  there  was  a  pre- 
disposition to  hope  the  most  and  the  best  from  his  assignment 


LIFE   OP   ABRAHAM   LINCOLN.  275 

to  a  larger  command.  If  the  President  erred,  it  was  only  in 
common  with  the  people  whose  will  he  had  undertaken  to  exe- 
cute, and  not  from  favoritism  or  partiality,  political  or  personal, 
toward  an  officer  whom  he  had  never  seen. 

The  25th  of  July,  1861,  is  memorable  as  the  day  on  which 
Maj.  Gen:  John  C.  Fremont  arrived  in  St.  Louis,  and  entered 
on  his  command  of  the  Department  of  the  West ;  as  the  day  on 
which  Maj.  Gen.  Nathaniel  P.  Banks  (previously  in  command 
at  Baltimore)  reached  Harper's  Ferry,  superseding  Gen.  Pat- 
terson; and  as  that  on  which  Maj.  Gen.  George  B.  McClellan 
arrived  in  Washington  to  take  command  of  the  Army  of  the 
Potomac.  His  former  place,  as  commander  of  the  Army  in 
West  Virginia,  was,  by  an  order  issued  on  the  same  day,  given 
to  the  hero  of  Rich  Mountain,  Maj.  Gen.  William  S.  Rose- 
crans.  At  Baltimore,  Maj.  Gen.  John  A.  Dix  assumed  com- 
mand in  place  of  Banks. 

For  the  three  months  succeeding  the  battle  of  Bull  Run,  the 
Army  of  the  Potomac,  from  which  the  people  impatiently 
awaited  worthy  deeds  to  redeem  and  avenge  the  former  failure, 
has  only  the  history  of  rapidly  increasing  numbers,  of  improv- 
ing organization  and  discipline,  and  of  the  needed  preparation, 
in  respect  to  arms,  equipments,  supplies  and  experience  of  camp 
life.  During  this  period,  the  number  of  men  under  McClellan's 
command  had  come  to  be  estimated  at  about  200,000.  It  is 
believed  that  the  effective  force,  on  the  21st  of  October,  when 
the  first  movement  commenced,  fell  but  little,  if  any,  short  of 
that  number.  Meanwhile  the  Potomac  had  become  substan- 
tially closed  by  a  Rebel  blockade,  injurious  to  many  interests, 
and  hazardous  in  a  military  point  of  view.  But  the  prudent 
General,  guarding  himself  against  premature  movements,  in  ac- 
cordance with  the  monition  which  he  saw  in  the  result  of 
McDowell's  advance,  deemed  it  unwise  to  risk  a  general  action 
by  cooperating  with  a  naval  force,  as  was  desired,  to  reopen 
navigation  on  the  river. 

On  the  18th  of  August,  the  command  at  Fortress  Monroe 
was  surrendered  to  Gen.  John  E.  Wool,  by  Gen.  Butler,  who 
proceeded  northward  to  organize  a  separate  expedition,  the 
destination  of  which  was  not  disclosed. 


276  LIFE   OP   ABRAHAM   LINCOLN. 

In  the  West  stirring  events  had  transpired  prior  to  the 
arrival  of  Gen.  Fremont  at  the  headquarters  of  his  Department. 
In  Missouri,  the  Rebel  forces  had  been  gradually  driven  toward 
the  Southwest  by  the  small  army  under  Gens.  Lyon  and  Sigel, 
with  occasional  engagements,  until  finally  the  insurgents,  with 
greatly  increased  numbers,  had  made  a  stand  at  a  place  nine 
miles  beyond  Springfield,  on  Wilson's  Creek.  Here,  on  the 
10th  of  August,  was  fought  a  memorable  battle,  which  may  be 
termed  the  second  considerable  engagement  of  the  war.  Gen. 
Lyon,  whose  entire  force  appears  to  have  been  less  than  6,000, 
attacked  the  enemy  in  camp,  reported  to  be  22,000  strong,  now 
under  command  of  Ben.  McCulloch.  The  advance  was  made 
in  two  columns  :  one  under  Lyon  himself,  moving  directly  on 
the  enemy ;  the  other,  making  a  circuit  of  fifteen  miles  toward 
the  left,  was  to  turn  the  enemy's  right.  This  well-planned 
movement  was  commenced  on  the  night  of  the  9th.  Gen. 
Lyon's  column,  after  resting  two  hours,  following  the  night's 
march,  resumed  its  course  at  four  o'clock  in  the  morning,  and 
his  advance  drove  in  the  enemy's  pickets  an  hour  later.  The 
camp  was  soon  in  full  view,  extending  for  three  miles  along  the 
valley,  and  the  attack  was  commenced  by  Blair's  Missouri  regi- 
ment, while  Totten's  battery  began  to  shell  the  tents  more 
distant.  The  Iowa  First  and  two  Kansas  regiments  were  also 
brought  up.  A  cavalry  charge  of  the  enemy  was  met  and 
repulsed.  Another  attack,  about  nine  o'clock,  somewhat  stag- 
gered our  forces,  and  in  placing  himself  at  the  head  of  the 
Iowa  regiment,  to  lead  a  bayonet  charge,  Gen.  Lyon,  who  had 
already  received  three  wounds  that  morning,  was  shot  through 
the  breast  by  a  rifle  ball  and  fell  dead  on  the  field.  The  last 
Rebel  advance,  made  about  one  o'clock  in  the  afternoon,  was 
repulsed. 

The  movement  under  Gen.  Sigel  was  successful  at  first,  and 
resulted  in  the  destruction  of  the  enemy's  tents  and  entire  bag- 
gage train,  about  noon.  Sigel's  column,  however,  was  obliged 
at  length  to  give  way.  Both  columns  now  retired  toward 
Springfield,  the  entire  loss  being  reported  as  eight  hundred  in 
killed  and  wounded.  The  enemy  is  believed  to  have  suffered 
heavily,  especially  from  the  well-directed  fire  of  our  tH-tillery. 


LIFE   OF  ABRAHAM   LINCOLN.  277 

He  did  not  pursue  our  forces,  which  were  led  away  by  Gen. 
Sigel  without  confusion  or  disorder.  Although  not  successful 
in  occupying  the  enemy's  position,  yet  the  partial  advantages 
gained,  with  so  great  a  disparity  of  numbers,  left  a  very  differ- 
ent moral  impression  from  that  of  the  defeat  at  Manassas,  on 
the  21st  of  July. 

The  loss  of  Nathaniel  Lyon  would  have  been  a  dear  price 
for  the  most  decided  victory.  As  a  General,  as  a  patriot,  as  a 
man,  his  name  will  remain  one  of  the  brightest  among  those  of 
the  memorable  heroes  of  his  time.  , .;  ^ 

Gen.  Fremont,  on  his  arrival  at  St.  Louis,  had  set  about 
organizing  his  forces  for  an  energetic  campaign,  not  only  to  re- 
store order  in  Missouri,  but  also  to  gain  control  of  the  Missis- 
sippi river.  Volunteers  in  great  numbers  sought  service  un- 
der him,  his  name  awakening  an  enthusiasm,  particularly 
among  citizens  of  German  origin,  beyond  that  of  any  other 
commander.  The  operations  began  under  Lyon  and  Sigel  were 
allowed  to  continue,  substantially  following  out  the  plans  already 
formed,  while  he  was  carefully  fortifying  the  city  of  St.  Louis, 
and  organizing  a  gunboat  service,  afterward  to  become  so  im- 
portant an  auxiliary  on  the  Western  waters.  But  a  brief  time 
had  elapsed,  after  Fremont's  arrival  at  St.  Louis,  before  the  en- 
gagement at  Wilson's  Creek — fought  at  greatly  unequal  odds, 
for  which  his  personal  opponents  vehemently  censured  him — 
and  the  subsequent  retreat,  together  with  the  constantly  oc- 
curring disturbances  in  various  parts  of  the  State,  satisfied  the 
commanding  General  that  he  had  no  light  task  in  reestablish- 
ing peace  and  order  in  Missouri  alone.  Before  he  assumed 
command,  Gen.  Pope  had  already  been  obliged  to  resort  to 
energetic  measures  in  the  northern  part  of  the  State,  to  sup- 
press the  irregular  warfare  there  prevalent,  and  to  quiet  the 
deadly  feuds  existing  between  the  two  parties  into  which  the 
communities  were  divided.  The  necessity  of  more  stringent 
proceedings  throughout  the  State  was  daily  becoming  manifest. 

It  was  under  these  circumstances  that,  at  length,  Gen. 
Fremont  issued  his  famous  order  proclaiming  martial  law,  in 
the  following  terms : 


278  LIFE  OP   ABRAHAM    LINCOLN. 

\ 

HEADQUARTERS  WESTERN  DEPARTMENT,   ) 
ST.  Louis,  August  30,  1861.  j 

Circumstances  in  my  judgment  are  of  sufficient  urgency 
to  render  it  necessary  that  the  commanding  General  of  this 
department  should  assume  the  administrative  powers  of  the 
State.  Its  disorganized  condition,  helplessness  of  civil  au- 
thority, and  the  total  insecurity  of  life,  and  devastation  of 
property  by  bands  of  murderers  and  marauders,  who  infest 
nearly  every  county  in  the  State,  and  avail  themselves  of  pub- 
lic misfortunes,  in  the  vicinity  of  a  hostile  force,  to,  gratify 
private  and  neighborhood  vengeance,  and  who  find  an  enemy 
wherever  they  find  plunder,  finally  demand  the  severest  meas- 
ures to  repress  the  daily  increasing  crimes  and  outrages  which 
are  driving  off  the  inhabitants  and  ruining  the  State. 

In  this  condition  the  public  safety  and  success  of  our  arms 
require  unity  of  purpose,  without  let  or  hindrance  to  the 
prompt  administration  of  affairs.  In  order,  therefore,  to  sup- 
press disorders,  maintain  the  public  peace,  and  give  security  to 
the  persons  and  property  of  loyal  citizens,  I  do  hereby  extend 
and  declare  established  martial  law  throughout  the  State  of 
Missouri.  The  lines  of  the  army  occupation  in  this  State  arc 
for  the  present  declared  to  extend  from  Leavenworth,  by  way 
of  posts  of  Jefferson  City,  Holla  and  Ironton,  to  Cape  Girar- 
deau  on  the  Mississippi  river.  All  persons  who  shall  be  taken 
with  arms  in  their  hands  within  these  lines  shall  be  tried  by 
court-martial,  and  if  found  guilty  will  be  shot.  Real  and  per- 
sonal property  of  those  who  shall  take  up  arms  against  the 
United  States,  or  who  shall  be  directly  proven  to  have  taken  an 
active  part  with  their  enemies  in  the  field,  is  declared  confis- 
cated to  public  use,  and  their  slaves,  if  any  they  have,  are 
hereby  declared  free  men. 

All  persons  who  shall  be  proven  to  have  destroyed,  after  the 
publication  of  this  order,  railroad  tracks,  bridges,  or  telegraph 
lines,  shall  suffer  the  extreme  penalty  of  the  law.  All  persons 
engaged  in  treasonable  correspondence,  in  giving  or  procuring 
aid  to  the  enemy,  in  fermenting  turmoil,  and  disturbing  public 
tranquillity,  by  creating  or  circulating  false  reports,  or  incen- 
diary documents,  are  warned  that  they  are  exposing  them- 
selves. 

All  persons  who  have  been  led  away  from  allegiance, 
are  required  to  return  to  their  homes  forthwith.  Any  such 
absence,  without  sufficient  cause,  will  be  held  to  be  presump- 
tive evidence  against  them.  The  object  of  this  declaration  is 
to  place  in  the  hands  of  military  authorities  power  to  give  in- 
stantaneous effect  to  the  existing  laws,  and  supply  such  defi- 
ciencies as  the  conditions  «f  the  war  deuiaud  ;  but  it  is  not  in 


LIFE   OF  ABRAHAM   LINCOLN.  279 

tended  to  suspend  the  ordinary  tribunals  of  the  country,  where 
law  will  be  administered  by  civil  officers  in  the  usual  manner, 
and  with  their  customary  authority,  while  the  same  can  be 
peaceably  administered. 

The  commanding  General  will  labor  vigilantly  for  the  pub- 
lic welfare,  and,  by  his  efforts  for  their  safety,  hopes  to  obtain 
not  only  acquiescence,  but  the  active  support  of  the  people  of 
the  country. 

J.  C.  FREMONT, 
Major  General  Commanding. 

An  order  of  this  character  could  not  fail  to  become  a  topic 
of  general  discussion  throughout  the  land.  The  attention  of 
the  President  was  early  called  to  the  subject,  and  the  strong- 
est opposition  was  manifested  to  the  proposed  exercise  of  the 
military  power,  by  a  subordinate  commander,  for  the  confisca- 
tion of  slave  property.  This  sentiment  was  clearly  expressed 
in  a  letter  to  the  President,  by  the  Hon.  Joseph  Holt,  under 
date  of  September  12th,  in  which  he  said : 

The  late  act  of  Congress  providing  for  the  confiscation  of 
the  estates  of  persons  in  open  rebellion  against  the  Govern- 
ment was,  as  a  necessary  war  measure,  accepted  and  fully  ap- 
proved "  by  the  loyal  men  of  the  country.  It  limited  the  pen- 
alty of  confiscation  to  property  actually  employed  in  the  serv- 
ice of  the  rebellion  with  the  knowledge  and  consent  of  its  own- 
ers, and,  instead  of  emancipating  slaves  thus  employed,  left 
their  status  to  be  determined  either  by  the  Courts  of  the 
United  States  or  by  subsequent  legislation.  The  proclama- 
tion, however,  of  Gren.  Fremont,  under  date  of  the  30th  of  Au- 
gust, transcends,  and,  of  course,  violates  the  law  in  both  these 
particulars,  and  declares  that  the  property  of  rebels,  whether 
used  in  support  of  the  rebellion  or  not,  shall  be  confiscated, 
and  if  consisting  in  slaves,  that  they  shall  be  at  once  manu- 
mitted. The  act  of  Congress  referred  to  was  believed  to  em- 
body the  conservative  policy  of  your  Administration  upon  this 
delicate  and  perplexing  question,  and  hence  the  loyal  men  of 
the  Border  Slave  States  have  felt  relieved  of  all  fears  of  any 
attempt  on  the  part  of  the  Government  of  the  United  States 
to  liberate  suddenly  in  their  midst  a  population  unprepared  for 
freedom,  and  whose  presence  could  not  fail  to  prove  a  painful 
apprehension,  if  not  a  terror,  to  the  homes  and  families  of  all. 
You  may,  therefore,  well  judge  of  the  alarm  and  condemnation 
with  which  the  Union-loving  citizens  of  Kentucky — the  State 


280  LIFE   OF    ABRAHAM    LINCOLN. 

with  whose  popular   sentiment  I  am  best  acquainted — have 
read  this  proclamation. 

The  hope -is  earnestly  indulged  by  them  as  it  is  by  myself, 
that  this  paper  was  issued  under  the  pressure  of  military 
necessity,  which  Gen.  Fremont  believed  justified  the  step,  but 
that  in  the  particulars  specified  it  has  not  your  approbation 
and  will  not  be  enforced  in  derogation  of  law.  The  magnitude 
of  the  interest  at  stake,  and  my  extreme  desire  that  by  no  mis- 
apprehension of  your  sentiments  or  purposes  shall  the  power 
and  fervor  of  the  loyalty  of  Kentucky  be  at  this  moment 
abated  or  chilled,  must  be  my  apology  for  the  frankness  with 
which  I  have  addressed  you,  and  for  the  request  I  venture  to 
make  of  an  expression  of  your  views  upon  the  points  of  Gen. 
Fremont's  proclamation  on  which  I  have  commented. 

The  President  had  already  written  and  transmitted  the  fol- 
lowing letter  to  Gen.  Fremont,  expressing  in  definite  terms,  as 
a  public  order,  what  had  been  before  more  privately  indicated 
to  him,  immediately  after  that  officer's  action  on  this  subject 
was  known  : 

WASHINGTON,  D.  C.,  Sept.  11.  1861. 
Major  General  John  C.  Fremont : 

SIR  :  Yours  of  the  8th,  in  answer  to  mine  of  the  2d  inst., 
is  just  received.  Assured  that  you,  upon  the  ground,  could 
better  judge  of  the  necessities  of  your  position  than  I  could  at 
this  distance,  on  seeing  your  proclamation  of  August  30,  I  per- 
ceived no  general  objection  to  it;  the  particular  clause,  how- 
ever, in  relation  to  the  confiscation  of  property  and  the  libera- 
tion of  slaves  appeared  to  me  to  be  objectionable  in  its  non- 
wonformity  to  the  act  of  Congress,  passed  the  6th  of  last  Au- 
gust, upon  the  same  subjects,  and  hence  I  wrote  you,  express- 
ing my  wish  that  that  clause  should  be  modified  accordingly. 
Your  answer  just  received  expresses  the  preference  on  your 
part  that  I  should  make  an  open  order  for  the  modification, 
which  I  very  cheerfully  do.  It  is,  therefore,  ordered  that  the 
said  clause  of  the  said  proclamation  be  so  modified,  held,  and 
construed  as  to  conform  with  and  not  to  transcend  the  provi- 
sions on  the  same  subject  contained  in  the  act  of  Congress  en- 
titled "An  act  to  confiscate  property  used  for  insurrectionary 
purposes,"  approved  August  6,  1861,  and  th?.t  said  act  be  pub- 
lished at  length  with  this  order. 

Your  obedient  servant, 

A.  LINCOLN. 


LIFE   OP  ABRAHAM   LINCOLN.  281 

It  will  be  observed  that  this  modification  merely  requires  the 
General  commanding  in  the  Department  of  the  West  "  to  con- 
form with,  and  not  to  transcend,  the  provisions"  of  the  Confis- 
cation Act  in  regard  to  the  slaves  of  Rebels ;  in  other  words,  it 
merely  required  obedience  to  the  law.  At  the  present  time,  in 
view  of  what  the  President  has  since  done,  as  Commander-in- 
chief  of  the  Army,  as  well  as  of  his  sentiments  on  Slavery 
clearly  set  forth,  previously,  on  all  proper  occasions,  no  word  ia 
needed  to  prevent  misapprehension  as  to  this  Executive  order. 

By  a  timely  movement,  anticipating  the  contemplated  advance 
of  Gen.  Polk  from  Hickman  and  Columbus,  Gen.  Grant,  of 
Fremont's  command,  on  the  6th  of  September,  occupied 
Paducah,  at  the  mouth  of  the  Tennessee  river — a  position  vir- 
tually flanking  that  of  the  Rebel  forces  on  the  Mississippi,  in 
Kentucky.  Com.  A.  H.  Foote  had  been  ordered,  a  few  days 
previously,  (August  26,)  to  the  command  of  the  naval  forces 
on  the  Western  waters.  Price  and  Jackson  were  actively 
engaged  in  endeavoring  to  raise  a  formidable  army,  and  to  over- 
run the  State.  Their  attack  on  our  forces  at  Lexington  had 
terminated  in  the  surrender  of  Col.  Mulligan  and  the  men 
under  him  at  that  place,  on  the  12th  of  September.  Fremont 
at  length  prepared  to  take  the  field  in  person  against  the  insur- 
gents, in  Southwestern  Missouri.  He  collected  all  the  troops 
which  he  regarded  as  properly  available  for  the  purpose,  and, 
leaving  Jefferson  City  for  Sedalia,  on  the  8th  of  October 
seemed  to  be  energetically  .commencing  a  campaign  which  many 
thought  to  have  been  quite  too  long  deferred.  Price's  force 
gradually  fell  back  once  more  before  the  National  columns, 
and  were  finally  reported  to  be  preparing  to  give  battle  near 
Springfield.  Here  Fremont,  who  was  apparently  on  the  point 
of  engaging  the  enemy,  was  overtaken  by  the  order  relieving 
him  from  his  command.  He  was  temporarily  succeeded  by 
Gen.  Hunter,  who  soon  handed  over  the  command  to  Gen. 
Halleck. 

Gen.  Fremont  had  been  created  a  Major  General  by  the  vol- 
untary action  of  President  Lincoln,  from  a  conviction  of  the 
fitness  of  such  appointment.  When  assigned  to  the  command 
of  the  Army  of  the  West  he  was  received  in  that  quarter  with 
24 


282  LIFE   OF  ABRAHAM   LINCOLN. 

general  enthusiasm,  despite  the  seeming  tardiness  -with  which 
he  entered  on  his  work.  Of  the  charges  made  against  him, 
and  of  the  grounds  which  seemed  to  make  a  change  in  the 
command  advisable,  it  is  enough  to  say  here  that  they  did  not 
so  far  influence  the  mind  of  Mr.  Lincoln  against  Gen,  Fremont, 
as  to  prevent  his  subsequently  assigning  him  a  high  military 
trust.  The  President's  action  was  then,  and  still  may  be,  to 
some  extent,  misconstrued ;  but  no  candid  person,  with  the  facts 
before  him,  will  question  that  honorable  and  patriotic  motives  led 
to  an  order  which  was,  on  mere  personal  considerations,  reluc- 
tantly given. 

Under  Gen.  Hunter,  our  forces  retreated  without  a  battle,  and 
the  Rebel  hordes  again  advanced  over  the  already  devastated 
country  beyond  and  around  Springfield.  It  was  at  the  latter 
place,  which  had  been  speedily  reoccupied  by  Price,  that,  on 
the  25th  of  October,  Fremont's  body  guard,  of  three  hundred 
mounted  men,  under  Maj.  Zagonyi,  charged  upon  and  routed 
two  thousand  Rebels,  drawn  up  in  line  of  battle,  dispersed  them 
pell-mell,  and  retired  without  serious  loss — a  deed  of  heroic 
daring  unsurpassed  in  any  war. 

In  West  Virginia,  after  the  departure  of  McClellan,  oar 
army  found  its  labors  by  no  means  so  completely  terminated  as 
that  officer  had  supposed  at  the  date  of  his  glowing  dispateh, 
announcing  the  victory  at  Rich  Mountain.  On  the  contrary, 
serious  work  was  still  to  be  done,  and  there  were  active  enemies 
to  meet,  not  only  under  such  Brigadiers  as  Floyd  and  Wise, 
but  also  under  Gen.  Robert  E.  Lee.  The  well-planned  schemes 
of  all  these  Rebel  leaders  for  subjugating  the  loyal  people  of 
that  section  were  foiled  by  Gen.  Rosecrans,  but  not  without  his 
utmost  vigilance,  and  only  after  labors,  hardships  and  battles, 
which  were  by  no  means  unimportant  in  comparison  with  those 
of  the  earlier  summer.  On  the  10th  of  September,  Floyd  was 
beaten  in  the  battle  of  Carnifex  Ferry,  while  Lee's  attempt  to 
lead  a  force  through  Greenbriar  County  to  cooperate  in  crush- 
ing the  Ohio  forces,  which  had  advanced  up  the  Kanawha  and 
the  Gauley,  ended  at  Big  Sewell  Mountain,  in  utter  failure.  It 
was  only  on  the  sudden  and  final  retreat  of  Floyd,  from  Gauley 
Bridge,  eluding  the  grasp  of  Gen.  Benham.  to  the  disappoint- 


OJ  ABRAHAM  LDfCOLH.  283 

ment  of  Rosecrans,  that,  on  the  20th  of  November,  West  Vir- 
ginia was  substantially  freed  from  armed  Rebels,  and  the  cam- 
paign in  that  quarter  ended. 

During  the  progress  of  these  events,  of  the  autumn  of 
1861,  two  expeditions  were  in  preparation,  one  under  the  com- 
mand of  Gen.  Butler,  and  the  other  under  Gen.  Burnside. 
These  expeditions,  undertaken  against  the  persistent  opposi- 
tion of  McClellan,  were  regarded  with  interest  and  hope  by  the 
people,  who  were  becoming  wearied  with  the  long  inaction  of 
the  Army  of  the  Potomac,  in  the  presence  of  an  enemy  noto- 
riously much  inferior  in  numbers.  The  fine  condition  of  the 
roads  and  the  pleasant  weather  seemed  to  invite  the  long-delayed 
and  long-expected  advance,  which  the  public  had  again  and 
again  been  led  to  believe,  by  intimations  from  headquarters,  was 
about  to  be  commenced.  One,  at  least,  of  the  expeditions 
named,  was  for  a  time  believed  to  be  intended  to  aid  McClellan's 
promised  movement,  by  ascending  the  Rappahannock  or  other- 
wise. Without  the  slightest  detriment,  twenty  thousand  men 
might  have  been  spared  for  such  a  purpose  from  the  already 
too  cumbersome  army  near  Washington.  Yet  so  little  did  this 
suit  the  policy  of  the  commanding  General,  in  whom  there  was 
still  confidence,  that  the  forces  for  Butler  and  Burnside  were 
raised  elsewhere,  and  they  were  so  delayed,  in  consequence,  as 
in  part  to  thwart  their  original  purpose,  and  to  impair  their 
effectiveness.  That  under  Gen.  Butler,  acting  jointly  with  a 
naval  force  under  Com.  Stringham,  took  possession  of  the  Hat- 
teras  forte  on  the  29th  of  August.  The  Rebel  commandant, 
Barren,  formerly  of  the  United  States  Navy,  after  enduring  a 
severe  cannonade  from  the  fleet,  surrendered  the  position,  with 
the  officers  and  soldiers  under  him.  This  intelligence  was  re- 
ceived by  the  country  with  lively  satisfaction,  at  a  time  when 
some  reassuring  success  was  specially  needed. 

In  the  month  of  August  the  Rebels  had  occupied  Munson's 
Hill,  in  full  view  of  the  capital,  and  six  or  seven  miles  distant 
in  a  right  line.  The  force  thus  advanced  was  not  formidable, 
and  the  character  of  the  works  thrown  up  there,  as  discovered 
on  the  voluntary  withdrawal  of  the  occupants,  clearly  showed 
that  their  purpose  was  not  Mrious.  They  held  thii  position 


284  LIFE    OP   ABRAHAM    LINCOLN, 

until  the  28th  of  September,  on  which  day  a  foraging  party 
•went  out  eight  miles  on  the  Orange  and  Alexandria  Railroad, 
without  encountering  any  enemy,  or  finding  any  definite  trace 
of  his  previous  presence  in  that  direction.  The  prompt  occu- 
pation of  Munson's  Hill,  after  its  evacuation,  by  a  force  which 
McClellan,  with  his  staff,  had  accompanied  in  person,  electrified 
the  people  with  the  hope  of  some  decisive  action,  on  the  part  of 
the  new  commander.  He  shortly  returned  to  Washington, 
however,  and  nearly  another  month  passed  before  there  were 
again  visible  symptoms  of  vitality — beyond  that  of  military 
reviews  and  rhetorical  army  orders,  or  occasional  recounois- 
sances,  magnified  by  admiring  correspondents — in  the  Army  of 
the  Potomac. 

The  movement  of  Oct.  21st,  resulting  in  the  well-known 
affair  at  Ball's  Bluff,  was  scarcely  less  disastrous  in  its  effects 
than  the  failure  at  Bull  Run  on  the  21st  of  July.  Coming  af- 
ter such  complete  and  thorough  preparation  ;  following  such 
manifold  and  inexcusable  delays ;  and  transpiring  as  the  first 
of  the  weighty  manifestations  of  McClellan's  generalship,  the 
consequence  could  only  be  mortification  to  the  Administration, 
and  discouragement,  mingled  with  indignation,  to  the  country 
at  large.  In  this  ill-starred  fight  fell  Col.  E.  D.  Baker,  of 
Mexican  War  fame,  the  eloquent  Senator  from  Oregon.  The 
loss  on  our  side  was  officially  stated  as  150  killed  or  drowned, 
250  wounded,  and  500  prisoners.  The  whole  force  engaged 
•was  given  as  2,100.  The  rebel  Gen.  Evans,  commanding  on 
the  other  side,  states  his  own  loss  in  killed  and  wounded  as 
153.  He  estimates  the  Union  loss  at  1,300  killed,  wounded 
and  drowned,  and  asserts  that  710  prisoners  were  captured, 
making  a  total  of  over  2,000,  nearly  equal  to  the  whole  num- 
ber actively  engaged.  This  exaggerated  claim  was  not  needed 
to  show  the  destructive  character  of  the  engagement.  In  his 
general  order  on  this  occasion,  dated  Oct.  25,  McClellan  gave 
this  version  of  the  disaster : 

The  gallantry  and  discipline  there  displayed  deserved  a 
more  fortunate  result ;  but  pituated  as  these  troops  were — cut 
off  alike  from  retreat  and  reinforcements,  and  attacked  by  an 
overwhelming  force — fiv«  thousand  against  ona  thousand  saven 


LIFE  OF  ABRAHAM  LINCOLH.  285 

hundred — it  was  not  possible  that  the  issue  could  have  been 
successful. 

The  fact  that  Gen.  McCalFs  division  was  almost  simultan- 
eously withdrawn  by  Gen.  McClellan  from  a  position  effectually 
within  supporting  distance  on  the  Virginia  side  of  the  river, 
instead  of  being  advanced  to  cooperate  in  the  movement  on 
Leesburg,  has  not  been  satisfactorily  explained.  It  is  fair  to 
presume,  however,  that  there  was  no  more  culpable  motive  for 
this  than  a  desire  for  the  presence  of  McCall's  troops  at  a 
grand  review  which  was  progressing  near  Lewinsville,  while 
Col.  Baker  and  his  men  were  pushed  forward  into  the  jaws 
of  destruction. 

With  the  light  thrown  on  this  affair  by  subsequent  investi- 
gations, it  may  well  be  doubted  whether  the  President  should 
not  have  viewed  this  result,  after  three  months  of  wearisome 
and  unaccountable  inaction,  as  sufficient  cause  for  withdrawing 
all  further  confidence  from  the  commanding  General.  For  the 
time,  however,  it  was  made  to  appear  that  the  blame  should 
rest  elsewhere,  and  Gen.  C.  P.  Stone,  the  subordinate  in  the 
field,  became  the  scapegoat  for  his  superior. 

Despite  the  popular  impatience,  and  all  the  circumstances 
favoring  prompt  action,  nothing  more  was  attempted  by  the 
commander  of  the  Army  of  the  Potomac — scarcely  so  much 
as  a  picket  skirmish  disturbed  the  general  stagnation  during 
those  calm,  dry  days — for  the  next  two  months. 

To  Gen.  Scott's  generous  appreciation,  perhaps,  more  than 
to  any  other  circumstance,  was  due  the  confidence  extended  by 
President  Lincoln,  at  the  outset,  to  Gen.  McClellan,  unknown 
as  he  was  to  almost  every  one  else  at  Washington.  His  affili- 
ations had  formerly  been  with  another  class  of  public  men,  the 
principal  of  whom  were  now  actively  engaged  in  rebellion. 
With  Jefferson  Davis  in  particular,  he  seems  to  have  been  a 
youthful  favorite,  as  his  selection  for  a  place  on  the  Crimean 
Commission  attests.  Gen.  Scott  had  formed  a  favorable  opin- 
ion of  the  young  Lieutenant  in  Mexico,  and  had  very  essen- 
tially aided  in  securing  him  credit  with  the  present  Adminis- 
tration. Of  his  subsequent  deportment  toward  Gen.  Scott, 


286  LIFE  OF   ABRAHAM   LINCOLN. 

this  is  not  the  place  to  speak,  further  than  to  say  that  the  vet- 
eran Lieutenant  General,  his  immediate  superior,  keenly  felt 
the  disrespectful  hearing  of  his  subordinate. 

Increasing  physical  infirmity  led  the  Lieutenant  General  to  de- 
sire relief  from  all  active  duties,  and  from  apparent  responsibil- 
ity for  acts  in  which  he  really  had  no  share.  Directly  after  the 
affair  at  Ball's  Bluff,  he  made  known  this  wish  to  the  President. 
The  request  was  one  which,  urged  as  it  was,  could  not  be  re- 
fused. The  following  is  the  President's  order  on  this  subject: 

EXECUTIVE  MANSION,  WASHINGTON,  Nov.  1,  1861. 

On  the  1st  day  of  November,  A.  D.  1861,  upon  his  own  ap- 
plication to  the  President  of  the  United  States,  Brevet  Lieut. 
Gen.  Winfield  Scott  is  ordered  to  be  placed,  and  hereby  is 
placed,  upon  the  list  of  retired  officers  of  the  Army  of  the 
United  States,  without  reduction  in  his  current  pay,  subsist- 
ence or  allowances. 

The  American  people  will  hear  with  sadness  and  deep  emo- 
tion that  Gen.  Scott  has  withdrawn  from  the  active  control  of 
the  army,  while  the  President  and  the  unanimous  Cabinet  ex- 
press their  own  and  the  nation's  sympathy  in  his  personal  af- 
fliction, and  their  profound  sense  of  the  important  public 
services  rendered  by  him  to  his  country  during  his  long  and 
brilliant  career,  among  which  will  ever  be  gratefully  distin- 
guished his  faithful  devotion  to  the  Constitution,  the  Union 
and  the  flag,  when  assailed  by  a  parricidal  rebellion. 

ABRAHAM  LINCOLN. 

This  order  was  read  to  Gen.  Scott,  at  his  residence,  by  tho 
President,  the  Cabinet  being  present.  The  veteran  General 
replied : 

PRESIDENT:  This  honor  overwhelms  me.  It  overpays  all 
services  I  have  attempted  to  render  to  my  country.  If  I  had 
any  claims  before,  they  are  all  obliterated  by  this  expression  of 
approval  by  the  President,  with  the  unanimous  support  of  his 
Cabinet.  I  know  the  President  and  this  Cabinet  well — I  know 
that  the  country  has  placed  its  interests,  in  this  trying  crisis, 
in  safe  keeping.  Their  counsels  are  wise.  Their  labors  are 
•untiring  as  they  are  loyal,  and  their  course  is  the  right  one. 

President,  you  must  excuse  me  ;  I  am  uaable  to  stand  longer 
to  give  utterance  to  the  feelings  of  gratitude  which  oppress  me. 
In  my  retirement  I  shall  offer  up  ray  prayer  to  God  for  thia 


MFK   OF  ABRAHAM   LINCOLN,  287 

Administration,  and  for  my  country.     I  shall  pray  for  it  with 
confidence  in  its  success  over  its  enemies,  and  that  speedily. 

On  Gen.  McClellan,  who  now  held  the  highest  rank  in  the 
army,  the  President  temporarily  devolved  the  duties  of 
General-in-chief,  and  that  position  was  assumed  in  a  general 
order,  issued  on  the  day  of  the  Lieutenant  General's  retire- 
ment. 

On  the  7th  of  November,  an  expedition,  under  the  joint  com- 
mand of  Com.  Dupont  and  Gen.  T.  W.  Sherman,  effected  a 
landing  on  the  South  Carolina  coast,  having  achieved  a  bril- 
liant victory  in  Port  Royal  Harbor.  In  thus  approaching  a 
portion  of  the  South  densely  populated  with  slaves,  it  became 
necessary  to  define  more  clearly  the  policy  to  be  acted  upon  by 
our  military  officers.  In  doing  so,  former  orders  to  General 
Butler,  on  first  entering  Virginia,  in  May,  were  repeated.  The 
following  is  the  official  order  to  Gen.  Sherman: 

WAR  DEPARTMENT,  Oct.  14,  1861. 

SIR :  In  conducting  military  operations  within  States  declared 
by  the  proclamation  of  the  President  to  be  in  a  state  of  insur- 
rection, you  will  govern  yourself,  so  far  as  persons  held  to  serv- 
ice under  the  laws  of  such  States  are  concerned,  by  the  prin- 
ciples of  the  letters  addressed  by  me  to  Maj.  Gen.  Butler,  on 
the  30th  of  May  and  the  8th  of  August,  copies  of  which  are 
herewith  furnished  to  you.  As  special  directions,  adapted  to 
special  circumstances,  can  not  be  given,  much  must  be  referred 
to  your  own  discretion,  as  Commanding  General  of  the  expedi- 
tion. You  will,  however,  in  general,  avail  yourself  of  the  serv- 
ices of  any  persons,  whether  fugitives  from  labor  or  not,  who 
may  offer  them  to  the  National  Government ;  you  will  employ 
such  persons  in  such  services  as  they  may  be  fitted  for,  either  as 
ordinary  employees,  or,  if  special  circumstances  seem  to  require 
it,  in  any  other  capacity,  with  such  organization  in  squads,  com- 
panies, or  otherwise,  as  you  deem  most  beneficial  to  the  service. 
This,  however,  not  to  mean  a  general  arming  of  them  for  mili- 
tary service.  You  will  assure  all  loyal  masters  that  Congress 
will  provide  just  compensation  to  them  for  the  loss  of  the  serv- 
ices of  the  persons  so  employed.  It  is  believed  that  the 
course  thus  indicated  will  best  secure  the  substantial  rights  of 
loyal  masters,  and  the  benefits  to  the  United  Stjrtes  of  the  serv- 
icea  of  all  disposed  to  support  the  Government,  while  it  avoid* 


288  LIFE   OP   ABRAHAM    LINCOLN. 

all  interference  with  the  social  systems  or  local  institutions  of 
every  State,  beyond  that  which  insurrection  makes  unavoidable, 
and  which  a  restoration  of  peaceful  relations  to  the  Union,  un- 
der the  Constitution,  will  immediately  remove. 

SIMON  CAMERON 

Secretary  of  "War. 
BRIG.  GEN.  T.  W.  SHERMAN, 

Commanding  Expedition  to  the  Southern  Coast. 

Gen.  Butler  having,  in  his  letter  of  May  27th,  apprised  the 
War  Department  as  to  his  views  and  action  in  regard  to  fugi- 
tive slaves  coming  within  his  lines — such  "property"  being,  in 
his  opinion,  contraband  of  war — the  Secretary  of  War  had 
replied : 

WASHINGTON,  May  30,  1861. 

SIR  :  Your  action  in  respect  to  the  negroes  who  came  within 
your  lines,  from  the  service  of  the  Rebels,  is  approved.  The 
Department  is  sensible  of  the  embarrassments,  which  must  sur- 
round officers  conducting  military  operations  in  a  State,  by  the 
laws  of  which  slavery  is  sanctioned.  The  Government  can 
not  recognize  the  rejection  by  any  State  of  its  Federal  obliga- 
tion, resting  upon  itself,  among  these  Federal  obligations. 
However,  no  one  can  be  more  important  than  that  of  suppress- 
ing and  dispersing  any  combination  of  the  former  for  the  pur- 
pose of  overthrowing  its  whole  constitutional  authority.  While, 
therefore,  you  will  permit  no  interference,  by  persons  under 
your  command,  with  the  relations  of  persons  held  to  service 
under  the  laws  of  any  State,  you  will,  on  the  other  hand,  so 
long  as  any  State  within  which  your  military  operations  are 
conducted,  remain  under  the  control  of  such  armed  combina- 
tions, refrain  from  surrendering  to  alleged  masters  any  per- 
soiis  who  come  within  your  lines.  You  will  employ  such  per- 
sons in  the  services  to  which  they  will  be  best  adapted,  keeping 
an  account  of  the  labor  by  them  performed,  of  the  value  of  it, 
and  the  expenses  of  their  maintenance.  The  question  of  their 
final  disposition  will  be  reserved  for  future  determination. 

The  other  letter  to  Gen.  Butler,  referred  to  above,  is  in  the 
following  terms : 

WASHINGTON,  August  8, 1861. 

GENERAL  :  The  important  question  of  the  proper  disposi- 
tion to  be  made  of  fugitives  from  service  in  the  States  in  insur- 


LIFE   OF    ABRAHAM    LINCOLN.  289 

rection  against  the  Federal  Government,  to  which  you  have 
again  directed  my  attention,  in  your  letter  of  July  20,  has  re- 
ceived my  most  attentive  consideration.  It  is  the  desire  of  the 
President  that  all  existing  rights  in  all  the  States  be  fully 
respected  and  maintained.  The  war  now  prosecuted  on  the 
part  of  the  Federal  Government  is  a  war  for  the  Union,  for  the 
preservation  of  all  the  constitutional  rights  of  the  States  and 
the  citizens  of  the  States  in  the  Union ;  hence  no  question  can 
arise  as  to  fugitives  from  service  within  the  States  and  Terri- 
tories in  which  the  authority  of  the  Union  is  fully  acknowl 
edged.  The  ordinary  forms  of  judicial  proceedings  must  be 
respected  by  the  military  and  civil  authorities  alike-, -for  the  en- 
forcement of  legal  forms.  But  in  the  States  wholly  or  in  part 
under  insurrectionary  control,  where  the  laws  of  the  United 
States  are  so  far  opposed  and  resisted  that  they  can  not  be 
effectually  enforced,  it  is  obvious  that  the  rights  dependent 
upon  the  execution  of  these  laws  must  temporarily  fail,  and  it 
is  equally  obvious  that  the  rights  dependent  on  the  laws  of  the 
States  within  which  military  operations  are  conducted  must 
necessarily  be  subordinate  to  the  military  exigences  created  by 
the  insurrection,  if  not  wholly  forfeited  by  the  treasonable  con- 
duct of  the  parties  claiming  them.  To  this  the  general  rule  of- 
the  right  to  service  forms  an  exception.  The  act  of  Congress 
approved  Aug.  6,  1861,  declares  that  if  persons  held  to  service 
shall  be  employed  in  hostility  to  the  United  States,  the  right  to 
their  services  shall  be  discharged  therefrom.  It  follows  of 
necessity  that  no  claim  can  be  recognized  by  the  military  au- 
thority of  the  Union  to  the  services  of  such  persons  when 
fugitives. 

A  more  difficult  question  is  presented  in-  respect  to  persons 
escaping  from  the  service  of  loyal  masters.  It  is  quite  appar- 
ent that  the  laws  of  the  State  under  which  only  the  services  of 
such  fugitives  can  be  claimed  must  needs  be  wholly  or  almost 
wholly  superseded,  as  to  the  remedies,  by  the  insurrection  and 
the  military  measures  necessitated  by  it ;  and  it  is  equally 
apparent  that  the  substitution  of  military  for  judicial  measures 
for  the  enforcement  of  such  claims  must  be  attended  by.  great 
inconvenience,  embarrassments  and  injuries.  Under  these  cir- 
cumstances, it  seems  quite  clear  that  the  substantial  rights  of 
loyal  masters  are  still  best  protected  by  receiving  such  fugitives, 
as  well  as  fugitives  from  disloyal  masters,  into  the  service  of 
the  United  States,  and  employing  them  under  such  organizations 
and  in  such  occupations  as  circumstances  may  suggest  or 
require.  Of  course  a  record  should  be  kept  showing  the  names 
and  descriptions  of  the  fugitives,  the  names  and  characters,  as 
loyal  or  disloyal,  of  their  masters,  and  such  facts  rs  may  be 
25 


290  LIFE   OF  ABRAHAM    LINCOLN. 

necessary  to  a  correct  understanding  of  the  circumstances  of 
each  case. 

After  tranquillity  shall  have  been  restored  upon  the  return  of 
peace,  Congress  will  doubtless  properly  provide  for  all  the'  per- 
sons thus  received  into  the  service  of  the  Union,  and  for  a  just 
compensation  to  loyal  masters.  In  this  way  only,  it  would 
seem,  can  the  duty  and  safety  of  the  Government  and  just 
rights  of  all  be  fully  reconciled  and  harmonized.  You  will, 
therefore,  consider  yourself  instructed  to  govern  your  future 
action  in  respect  to  fugitives  from  service  by  the  premises 
herein  stated,  and  will  report  from  time  to  time,  and  at  least 
twice  in  each  month,  your  action  in  the  premises  to  this  Depart- 
ment. You  will,  however,  neither  authorize  nor  permit  any 
interference  by  the  troops  under  your  command  with  the 
servants  of  peaceable  citizens  in  a  house  or  field,  nor  will  you 
in  any  manner  encourage  such  citizens  to  leave  the  lawful  serv- 
ice of  their  masters,  nor  will  you,  except  in  cases  where  the 
public  good  may  seem  to  require  it,  prevent  the  voluntary 
return  of  any  fugitive  to  the  service  from  which  he  may  have 
escaped.  I  am,  very  respectfully,  your  obedient  servant, 

SIMON  CAMERON, 
Secretary  of  War. 

To  MAJ.  GEN.  BUTLER, 

Commanding  Department  of  Virginia,  Fortress  Monroe. 

On  the  6th  of  November,  a  force  under  Gens.  Grant  and 
McClernand  left  Cairo  on  transports  for  the  purpose  of  break- 
ing up  a  Rebel  camp  on  the  Missouri  side  of  the  Mississippi 
river,  nearly  opposite  Columbus,  the  headquarters  of  Gen. 
Polk.  The  whole  number  of  men  engaged  in  this  expedition, 
including  a  Chicago  battery  and  two  companies  of  cavalry,  was 
about  3,500.  The  gunboats  Tyler  and  Lexington  accompanied 
them.  The  troops  effected  a  landing  and  were  formed  in  line 
of  battle  about  eight  o'clock  the  following  tnorniug,  and  at 
once  advanced  upon  the  Rebel  works.  The  Rebels,  under 
Gen.  Cheatham,  met  this  attack,  but  were  driven  back  over  the 
wooded  field,  fighting  from  tree  to  tree,  into  and  through  their 
eamp.  Twelve  guns  were  captured  from  the  Rebels,  their  camp 
burned,  and  baggage,  horses,  and  many  prisoners  were  taken. 
Reinforcements  from  Columbus  subsequently  crossed  to  Bel- 
mont,  compelling  the  Union  forces  to  return  to  their  transports, 
under  cover  of  the  gunboats.  Though  a  decided  success  in 


LIFE   OP   ABRAHAM   LINCOLN.  291 

the  early  part  of  the  day,  the  engagement  terminated  less 
favorably,  and  victory  "was  claimed  by  the  Rebels. 

About  the  same  time,  it  is  worthy  of  note,  a  gunboat  recon- 
noissance  was  made  to  Fort  Donelson.  The  movement  at  Bel- 
mont,  made  by  order  of  Gen.  Fremont,  perhaps  aided  another 
ere  long  to  be  undertaken  in  the  latter  direction,  as  well  as  the 
advance  into  Southwestern  Missouri,  then  in  progress. 

A  large  force,  under  Gen.  W.  T.  Sherman,  had  meanwhile 
advanced  as  far  as  Bowling  Green,  to  meet  an  invasion  of  Ken- 
tucky under  the  Rebel  Gen.  Bragg,  while  on  the  left  of  Sher- 
man, Gen.  William  Nelson,  on  the  8th,  gained  a  decisive  victory 
over  the  Rebels,  under  Col.  Williams,  clearing  the  northeastern 
part  of  the  State  of  invaders.  Thus  the  prompt  occupation  of 
Paducah  by  Gen.  Grant,  the  -advance  of  Sherman,  and  the 
energy  of  Nelson,  had  defeated  a  well-devised  plan  of  the 
Rebels  for  overrunning  and  subjugating  Kentucky.  Gen.  Buck- 
ner,  not  long  after  his  interview  with  McClellan  at  Cincinnati, 
in  June,  had  thrown  off  the  mask,  and  was  zealously  engaged 
in  an  attempt  to  draw  Kentucky  into  the  Secession  gulf-stream, 
and  to  gather  a  large  force  of  Kentuckians  for  the  Rebel  Army. 
In  the  latter  purpose  he  was  not  without  success. 

On  the  10th  of  November,  Gen.  H.  W.  Halleck  was  appointed 
to  the  command  of  the  Department  of  the  West,  in  the  place 
of  Gen.  Fremont.  At  the  same  date  Gen.  W.  T.  Sherman, 
having  lately  resigned  his  command  in  Kentucky,  Gen.  D.  C. 
Buell  took  that  General's  place. 

During  the  Summer  and  Autumn,  the  Navy  Department  had 
manifested  great  energy  in  collecting  the  before  scattered  navy, 
and  in  fitting  out,  equipping  and  manning  for  service  on  the 
seas  and  navigable  rivers,  where  available,  an  adequate  force 
of  war  vessels,  gunboats  and  transports.  A  blockade  of 
remarkable  stringency,  under  circumstances  so  adverse,  had 
been  maintained  along  our  immense  sea-coast,  and  numerous 
prizes  had  rewarded  the  vigilance  of  our  naval  commanders 
and  seamen.  Blockade-running,  though  frequently  attempted, 
and  sometimes  too  successful,  had  become  hazardous,  and  com- 
munication with  foreign  countries  was  but  casual,  and  attended 
with  constant  peril.  The  capture  of  the  forts  at  Hatteras  Inlet 


292  LIFE   OP   ABRAHAM   LINCOLN. 

effectually  closed  one  avenue  of  blockade  running,  and  the 
Port  Royal  expedition  was  of  like  value  in  sealing  another 
important  harbor. 

On  the  12th  of  October,  the  steamer  Theodora  evaded  the 
blockading  fleet  off  Charleston,  and  went  to  sea  with  two  noted 
Rebel  leaders  on  board,  James  M.  Mason  and  John  Slidell, 
recently  Senators  of  the  United  States,  now  "accredited,"  respect- 
ively, to  the  Governments  of  England  and  France,  as  Represen- 
tatives of  the  Davis  Confederacy.  Their  immediate  destination 
was  Cardenas,  with  the  intention  of  proceeding  to  Europe  by 
steamer  from  Havana.  At  the  time  of  the  arrival  of  these 
emissaries  in  Cuba,  Com.  Wilkes,  cruising  for  the  Rebel  priva- 
teer Sumter,  was  at  Cienfuegos,  on  the  southern  coast  of  that 
island.  "Having  been  notified  by  Consul  Shufeldt,  he  made  all 
haste  to  intercept  the  Theodora  on  her  return,  but  on  arriving 
at  Havana,  Oct.  31st,  he  found  she  had  already  gone,  and  that 
Mason  and  Slidell  were  waiting  there,  intending  to  leave  for  St. 
Thomas  in  the  British  Mail  steamer  Trent,  Com.  Wilkes  took 
position  with  his  vessel,  the  San  Jacinto,  to  intercept  the  Trent, 
designing  to  make  prisoners  of  her  two  diplomatic  passengers. 
This  purpose  he  accomplished  on  the  8th  of  November.  The 
intelligence  of  this  capture,  of  course,  created  no  little  excite- 
ment in  this  country  and  in  Europe.  As  involving  a  question 
of  international  rights  and  jurisdiction,  the  event  was  widely 
discussed,  while  the  loyal  sentiment  of  the  people  undeniably 
went  strongly  with  Com.  Wilkes  in  his  bold  action.  Secretary 
Welles  promptly  congratulated  that  officer,  complimenting  him, 
and  his  subordinates  and  crew — fully  appreciating  the  worthy 
motive,  and  the  energy  of  the  procedure.  Meanwhile,  Mason 
and  Slidell,  having  arrived  at  New  York,  were  transferred  to 
close  quarters  at  Fort  Warren,  in  Boston  harbor. 


LIFE  OP  ABRAHAM  LINCOLN.  293 


CHAPTER  V. 

The  President's  Message,  December,  1861. — Proceedings  of  Con- 
gress.— Emancipation. — Confiscation. — Messages  and  Addresses  of 
Mr.  Lincoln. 

CONGRESS  reassembled  on  the  2d  day  of  December,  1861. 
During  the  last  few  months  public  attention  had  been  earnestly 
directed  to  the  policy  of  turning  to  account  the  great  element 
of  Rebel  strength  or  weakness — as  it  should  prove — in  short- 
ening a  war  becoming  gigantic  in  its  dimensions  and  cost.  A 
large  portion  of  the  people  had  come  to  believe  that  a  proper 
exercise  of  the  war  power  would  require  the  slaves  of  the 
rebels  to  be  not  only  withdrawn  from  producing  for  the  sup- 
port of  the  Confederate  armies,  but  also  to  be  actively 
employed,  so  far  as  might  be,  on  the  right  side.  A  small 
class,  more  radical  in  their  views,  insisted  on  setting  aside,  by 
Executive  act,  all  legal  or  constitutional  guarantees  of  slavery 
in  general,  and  not  merely  in  so  far  as  they  inured  to  the 
benefit  of  Rebels,  who  had  repudiated  all  laws,  and  the  Consti- 
tution itself,  by  taking  up  arms  against  the  supreme  authority. 
Had  every  Slave  State  joined  in  the  Secession  movement,  this 
question  would  have  been  free  from  all  embarrassments.  But 
when  Mr.  Lincoln  was  inaugurated,  only  seven  of  these  States 
had  been  ranged  on  the  side  of  the  rebellion,  while  eight  re- 
mained in  an  attitude  of  loyalty.  And,  in  the  final  event,  but 
four  of  the  remaining  eight  were  drawn  into  Secession.  As 
the  President  of  an  undivided  Union,  the  President  had  thus 
far  felt  compelled,  as  well  in  the  avowals  of  his  Inaugural  Ad- 
dress as  in  his  subsequent  action,  not  to  interfere  directly  with 
the  relations  of  master"  and  slave.  It  was  only  where  the 
slave,  in  accordance  with  all  the  laws  of  war,  could  be  actually 
used  by  military  commanders  in  the  field,  to  subserve  military 
purposes,  and  not  by  any  general  blow  at  a  recognized  insti- 


294  LIFE  OP  ABRAHAM   LINCOLN. 

tution,  that  he  had  authorized  the  relation  to  be  forcibly  dis- 
turbed. 

The  existence  of  this  popular  agitation,  as  well  as  of  a  sim- 
ilar debate  in  his  own  mind,  perceptibly  appears  in  the  Presi- 
dent's annual  Message  to  Congress. 

It  is  likewise  to  be  observed,  that  the  military  results,  thus 
far,  had  not  been  quite  satisfactory,  either  to  the  President  or 
to  the  people.  Despite  the  lavish  means  provided  at  the  July 
session  of  Congress,  with  a  manifest  view  to  energetic  aggres- 
sive war,  little  more  had  been  'accomplished — and  that  cer- 
tainly not  a  little,  however  short  of  expectation — than  to  pro- 
tect the  National  capital,  and  to  save  Maryland,  West  Virginia, 
Kentucky  and  Missouri,  from  being  subjugated  by  Rebel 
armies.  Manassas  and  Ball's  Bluff,  in  the  East,  were  still  una- 
venged, or  but  partly  compensated  by  the  capture  of  Hatteras 
and  Port  Royal.  In  the  West,  large  Rebel  armies  were 
threatening  to  overrun  Kentucky  from  Bowling  Green  and 
Columbus,  and  Missouri  from  the  Southwest,  as  well  as  hold- 
ing the  Mississippi  river  to  within  a  few  miles  of  Cairo. 

In  addition,  was  the  exciting  question  growing  out  of  the  ar- 
rest of  Mason  and  Slidell,  on  board  a  British  ship  on  the  high 
seas.  The  popular  feeling,  on  the  one  hand,  seemed  to  be  unan- 
imous in  favor  of  retaining  possession  of  these  prisoners,  as  con- 
spirators and  traitors;  while  on  the  other,  the  British  Govern- 
ment, in  spite  of  its  own  precedents,  and  backed  by  French 
influence,  seemed  determined  to  regard  such  action  on  our 
part  as  a  cause  for  war.  The  juncture  was  critical.  Every  sym- 
pathizer with  rebellion  was  exultant  in  the  confidence  that  the 
Administration  would  be  wrecked  upon  Scylla  or  Charybdis — 
that  it  would  be  ruined  at  home,  or  involved  in  a  foreign  war  that 
must  end  any  further  effective  effort  to  put  down  the  rebellion. 

The  President,  fully  sensible  of  the  besetting  dangers,  and 
mindful  of  the  situation  of  affairs  in  these  and  other  respects, 
submitted  to  Congress  the  following  views,  in  a  message  which 
was  received  with  great  popular  favor : 

FELLOW-CITIZENS  OF  THE  SENATE  AND  HOUSE  OP  REPRE- 
SENTATIVES :  In  the  midst  of  unprecedented  political  troubles, 


LIFE   OF  ABRAHAM  LINCOLN.  295 

we  have  cause  of  great  gratitude  to  God  for  unusual  good 
health  and  most  abundant  harvests. 

You  will  not  be  surprised  to  learn  that,  in  the  peculiar  exi- 
gences of  the  times,  our  intercourse  with  foreign  nations  has 
been  attended  with  profound  solicitude,  chiefly  turning  upon 
our  own  domestic  affairs. 

A  disloyal  portion  of  the  American  people  have,  during  the 
whole  year,  been  engaged  in  an  attempt  to  divide  and  de- 
stroy the  Union.  A  nation  which  endures  factious  domestic 
division,  is  exposed  to  disrespect  abroad ;  and  one  party,  if  not 
both,  is  sure,  sooner  or  later,  to  invoke  foreign  intervention. 

Nations  thus  tempted  to  interfere,  are  not  always  able  to  re- 
sist the  counsels  of  seeming  expediency  and  ungenerous  ambi- 
tion, although  measures  adopted  under  such  influences  seldom 
fail  to  be  unfortunate  and  injurious  to  those  adopting  them. 

The  disloyal  citizens  of  the  United  States  who  have  offered 
the  ruin  of  our  country,  in  return  for  the  aid  and  comfort 
which  they  have  invoked  abroad,  have  received  less  patronage 
and  encouragement  than  they  probably  expected.  If  it  were 
just  to  suppose,  as  the  insurgents  have  seemed  to  assume,  that 
foreign  nations,  in  this  case,  discarding  all  moral,  social  and 
treaty  obligations,  would  act  solely,  and  selfishly,  for  the  most 
speedy  restoration  of  commerce,  including,  especially,  the  ac- 
quisitions of  cotton,  those  nations  appear,  as  yet,  not  to  have 
seen  their  way  to  their  object  more  directly,  or  clearly,  through 
the  destruction  than  through  the  preservation  of  the  Union. 
If  we  could  dare  to  believe  that  foreign  nations  are  actuated 
by  no  higher  principle  than  this,  I  am  quite  sure  a  sound  argu- 
ment could  be  made  to  show  them  that  they  can  reach  their 
aim  more  readily  and  easily  by  aiding  to  crush  this  rebellion 
than  by  giving  encouragement  to  it. 

The  principal  lever  relied  on  by  the  insurgents  for  exciting 
foreign  nations  to  hostility  against  us,  as  already  intimated,  is 
the  embarrassment  of  commerce.  Those  nations,  however,  not 
improbably,  saw  from  the  first,  that  it  was  the  Union  which 
made,  as  well  our  foreign,  as  our  domestic  commerce.  They 
can  scarcely  have  failed  to  perceive  that  the  effort  for  disunion 
produces  the  existing  difficulty;  and  that  one  strong  nation 
promises  more  durable  peace,  and  a  more  extensive,  valuable 
and  reliable  commerce,  than  can  the  same  nation  broken  into 
hostile  fragments. 

It  is  not  my  purpose  to  review  our  discussions  with  foreign 
States  ;  because  whatever  might  be  their  wishes  or  dispositions, 
the  integrity  of  our  country  and  the  stability  of  our  Govern- 
ment mainly  depend,  not  upon  them,  but  on  the  loyalty,  virtue, 
patriotism  and  intelligence  of  the  American  people.  The  cor- 


296  LIFE   OF   ABRAHAM    LINCOLN. 

respondence  itself,  with  the  usual  reservations,  is  herewith  sub- 
mitted. 

I  venture  to  hope  it  will  appear  that  we  have  practiced  pru- 
dence and  liberality  toward  foreign  powers,  averting  causes  of 
irritation,  and  with  firmness  maintaining  our  own  rights  and 
honor. 

Since,  however,  it  is  apparent  that  here,  as  in  every  other 
State,  foreign  dangers  necessarily  attend  domestic  difficulties, 
I  recommend  that  adequate  and  ample  measures  be  adopted  for 
maintaining  the  public  defenses  on  every  side.  While,  under 
this  general  recommendation,  provision  for  defending  our  sea- 
coast  line  readily  occurs  to  the  mind,  I  als,o,  in  the  same  con- 
nection, ask  the  attention  of  Congress  to  our  great  lakes  and 
rivers.  It  is  believed  that  some  fortifications  and  depots  of 
arms  and  munitions,  with  harbor  and  navigation  improvements, 
all  at  well-selected  points  upon  these,  would  be  of  great  im- 
portance to  the  National  defense  and  preservation.  I  ask  atten- 
tion to  the  views  of  the  Secretary  of  War,  expressed  in  his 
report,  upon  the  same  general  subject. 

I  deem  it  of  importance  that  the  loyal  regions  of  East  Ten- 
nessee and  Western  North  Carolina  should  be  connected  with 
Kentucky,  and  other  faithful  parts  of  the  Union,  by  railroad. 
I  therefore  recommend,  as  a  military  measure,  that  Congress 
provide  for  the  construction  of  such  road  as  speedily  as  possi- 
ble. Kentucky,  no  doubt,  will  cooperate,  and,  through  her 
Legislature,  make  the  most  judicious  selection  of  a  line.  The 
northern  terminus  must  connect  with  some  existing  railroad ;. 
and  whether  the  route  shall  be  from  Lexington  or  Nicholas - 
ville  to  the  Cumberland  Gap,  or  from  Lebanon  to  the  Tennes- 
see line,  in  the  direction  of  Knoxville,  or  on  some  still  differ- 
ent line,  can  easily  be  determined.  Kentucky  and  the 
General  Government  cooperating,  the  work  can  be  completed 
in  a  very  short  time ;  and  when  done,  it  will  be  not  only  of 
vast  present  usefulness,  but  also  a  valuable  permanent  im- 
provement, worth  its  cost  in  all  the  future. 

Some  treaties,  designed  chiefly  for  the  interests  of  com- 
merce, and  having  no  grave  political  importance,  have  been 
negotiated,  and  will  be  submitted  to  the  Senate  for  their  con- 
sideration. 

Although  we  have  failed  to  induce  some  of  the  commercial 
powers  to  adopt  a  desirable  melioration  of  the  rigor  of  mara- 
time  war,  we  have  removed  all  obstructions  from  the  way  of 
this  humane  reform,  except  such  as  are  merely  of  temporary 
and  accidental  occurrence. 

I  invite  your  attention  to  the  correspondence  between  Her 
Britannic  Majesty's  Minister,  accredited  to  this  Government, 


LIFE   OP   ABRAHAM   LINCOLN.  297 

and  the  Secretary  of  State,  relative  to  the  detention  of  the 
British  ship  Perthshire,  in  June  last,  by  the  United  States 
steamer  Massachusetts,  for  a  supposed  breach  of  the  block- 
ade. As  this  detention  was  occasioned  by  an  obvious  misap- 
prehension  of  the  facts,  and  as  justice  requires  that  we  should 
commit  no  belligerent  act  not  founded  in  strict  right,  as  sanc- 
tioned by  public  law,  I  recommend  that  an  appropriation  bo 
made  to  satisfy  the  reasonable  demand  of  the  owners  of  the 
vessel  for  her  detention. 

I  repeat  the  recommendation  of  my  predecessor,  in  hi3' 
annual  message  to  Congress  in  December  last,  in  regard  to  the 
disposition  of  the  surplus  which  will  probably  remain  after 
satisfying  the  claims  of  the  American  citizens  against  China,  pur- 
suant to  the  awards  of  the  commissioners  under  the  act  of  the 
3d  of  March,  1859.  If,  however,  it  should  not  be  deemed 
advisable  to  carry  that  recommendation  into  effect,  I  would 
suggest  that  authority  be  given  for  investing  the  principal, 
aver  the  proceeds  of  the  surplus  referred  to.  in  good  securities, 
with  a  view  to  the  satisfaction  of  such  other  just  claims  of  our 
citizens  against  China  as  are  not  unlikely  to  arise  hereafter  in 
the  course  of  our  extensive  trade  with  that  empire. 

By  the  act  of  the  5th  of  August  last,  Congress  authorized 
the  Pi*esident  to  instruct  the  commanders  of  suitable  vessels  to 
defend  themselves  against  and  to  capture  pirates.  This  au- 
thority has  been  exercised  in  a  single  instance  only.  For  the 
more  effectual  protection  of  our  extensive  and  valuable  com- 
merce, in  the  Eastern  seas  especially,  it  seems  to  me  that  it 
would  also  be  advisable  to  authorize  the  commanders  of  sailing 
vessels  to  recapture  any  prizes  which  pirates  may  make  of 
United  States  vessels  and  their  cargoes,  and  the  consular 
courts,  now  established  by  law  in  Eastern  countries,  to  adjudi- 
cate the  cases,  in  the  event  that  this  should  not  be  objected  to 
by  the  local  authorities. 

If  any  good  reason  exists  why  we  should  persevere  longer  in 
withholding  our  recognition  of  the  independence  and  sover- 
eignty of  Hayti  and  Liberia,  I  am  unable  to  discern  it.  Unwill- 
ing, however,  to  inaugurate  a  novel  policy  in  regard  to  them 
without  the  approbation  of  Congress,  I  submit  for  your  con- 
sideration the  expediency  of  an  appropriation  for  maintaining 
a  charge  d'affaires  near  each  of  those  new  States.  It  does  not 
admit  of  doubt  that  important  commercial  advantages  might  be 
secured  by  favorable  treaties  with  them. 

The  operations  of  the  treasury  during  the  period  which  haa 
elapsed  since  your  adjournment  have  been  conducted  with  signal 
success.  The  patriotism  of  the  .  people  has  placed  at  the  dis- 
posal of  the  Government  the  large  means  demanded  by  the  pub- 


298  LIFE   OF   ABRAHAM   LINCOLN. 

lie  exigences.  Much  of  the  National  loan  has  been  taken  by 
citizens  of  the  industrial  classes,  whose  confidence  in  their 
country's  faith,  and  zeal  for  their  country's  deliverance  from 
r  present  peril,  have  induced  them  to  contribute  to  the  support 
of  the  Government  the  whole  of  their  limited  acquisitions. 
This  fact  imposes  peculiar  obligations  to  economy  in  disburse- 
ment and  energy  in  action. 

The  revenue  from  all  sources,  including  loans,  for  the  finan- 
cial year  ending  on  the  30th  of  June,  1861,  was  eighty-six 
million  eight  hundred  and  thirty-five  thousand  nine  hundred 
dollars  and  twenty-seven  cents,  and  the  expenditures  for  the 
same  period,  including  payments  on  account  of  the  public  debt, 
were  eighty-four  million  five  hundred  and  seventy-eight  thou- 
sand eight  hundred  and  thirty-four  dollars  and  forty-seven 
cents  ;  leaving  a  balance  in  the  treasury  on  the  1st  of  July  of 
two  million  two  hundred  and  fifty-seven  thousand  sixty-five 
dollars  and  eighty  cents.  For  the  first  quarter  of  the  financial 
year,  ending  on  the  30th  of  September,  1861,  the  receipts  from 
all  sources,  including  the  balance  of  the  1st  of  July,  were  one 
hundred  and  two  million  five  hundred  and  thirty-two  thousand 
five  hundred  and  nine  dollars  and  twenty-seven  cents,  and  the 
expenses  ninety-eight  million  two  hundred  and  thirty-nine 
thousand  seven  hundred  and  thirty-three  dollars  and  nine 
cents ;  leaving  a  balance  on  the  1st  of  October,  1861,  of  four 
million  two  hundred  and  ninety-two  thousand  seven  hundred 
and  seventy-six  dollars  and  eighteen  cents. 

Estimates  for  the  remaining  three-quarters  of  the  year,  and 
for  the  financial  year  1863,  together  with  his  views  of  ways 
and  means  for  meeting  the  demands  contemplated  by  them, 
will  be  submitted  to  Congress  by  the  Secretary  of  the  Trea- 
sury. It  is  gratifiying  to  know  that  the  expenditures  made 
necessary  by  the  rebellion  are  not  beyond  the  resources  of  the 
loyal  people,  and  to  believe  that  the  same  patriotism  which  has 
thus  far  sustained  the  Government  will  continue  to  sustain  it 
till  peace  and  Union  shall  again  bless  the  land. 

I  respectfully  refer  to  the  report  of  the  Secretary  of  "War 
for  information  respecting  the  numerical  strength  of  the  Army, 
and  for  recommendations  having  in  view  an  increase  of  its 
efficiency  and  the  well  being  of  the  various  branches  of  the 
service  intrustecl  to  his  care.  It  is  gratifying  to  know  that  the 
patriotism  of  the  people  has  proved  equal  to  the  occasion,  and 
that  the  number  of  troops  tendered  greatly  exceeds  the  force 
which  Congress  authorized  me  to  call  into  the  field. 

I  refer  with  pleasure  to  those  portions  of  his  report  which 
make  allusion  to  the  creditable  degree  of  discipline  already 


LIFE  OP   ABRAHAM   LINCOLN.  299 

attained  by  our  troops,  and  to  the  excellent  sanitary  condition 
of  the  entire  army. 

The  recommendation  of  the  Secretary  for  an  organization  of 
the  militia  upon  a  uniform  basis  is  a  subject  of  vital  import- 
ance to  the  future  safety  of  the  country,  and  is  commended  to 
tb.3  serious  attention  of  Congress. 

The  large  addition  to  the  regular  army,  in  connection  with 
the  defection  that  has  so  considerably  diminished  the  number 
of  its  officers,  gives  peculiar  importance  to  his  recommendation 
for  increasing  the  corps  of  cadets  to  the  greatest  capacity  of  the 
Military  Academy. 

By  mere  omission,  I  presume,  Congress  has  failed  to  provide 
chaplains  for  hospitals  occupied  by  volunteers.  This  subject 
was  brought  to  my  notice,  and  I  was  induced  to  draw  up  the 
form  of  a  letter,  one  copy  of  which,  properly  addressed,  has 
been  delivered  to  each  of  the  persons,  and  at  the  dates  respect- 
ively named  and  stated,  in  a  schedule,  containing  also  the  form 
of  the  letter,  marked  A,  and  herewith  transmitted. 

These  gentlemen,  I  understand,  entered  upon  the  duties  des- 
ignated, at  the  times  respectively  stated  in  the  schedule,  and 
have  labored  faithfully  therein  ever  since.  I  therefore  recom- 
mend that  they  be  compensated  at  the  same  rate  as  chaplains 
in  the  army.  I  further  suggest  that  general  provision  be  made 
for  chaplains  to  serve  at  hospitals,  as  well  as  with  regiments. 

The  report  of  the  Secretary  of  the  Navy  presents  in  detail 
the  operations  of  that  branch  of  the  service,  the  activity  and 
energy  which  have  characterized  its  administration,  and  the 
results  of  measures  to  increase  its  efficiency  and  power.  Such 
have  been  the  additions,  by  construction  and  purchase,  that  it 
may  almost  be  said  a  navy  has  been  created  and  brought  into 
service  since  our  difficulties  commenced. 

Besides  blockading  our  extensive  coast,  squadrons  larger 
than  ever  before  assembled  under  our  flag  have  been  put  afloat, 
and  performed  deeds  which  have  increased  our  naval  renown. 

I  would  invite  special  attention  to  the  recommendation  of  the 
Secretary  for  a  more  perfect  organization  of  the  Navy  by  intro- 
ducing additional  grades  in  the  service. 

The  present  organization  is  defective  and  unsatisfactory,  and 
the  suggestions  submitted  by  the  Department  will,  it  is 
believed,  if  adopted,  obviate  the  difficulties  alluded  to,  promote 
harmony,  and  increase  the  efficiency  of  the  navy. 

There  are  three  vacancies  on  the  bench  of  the  Supreme 
Court — two  by  the  decease  of  Justices  Daniel  and  McLean, 
and  one  by  the  resignation  of  Justice  Campbell.  I  have  so 
far  forborne  making  nominations  to  fill  these  vacancies  for 
reasons  which  I  will  now  state.  Two  of  the  outgoing  judges 


300  LIFE  OP   ABRAHAM   LINCOLN. 

resided  within  the  States  now  overrun  by  revolt ;  so  that  if  suc- 
cessors were  appointed  in  the  same  localities,  they  could  not 
DOW  serve  upon  their  circuits ;  and  many  of  the  most  compe- 
tent men  there  probably  would  not  take  the  personal  hazard  of 
accepting  to  serve,  even  here,  upon  the  Supreme  Bench.  I 
have  been  unwilling  to  throw  all  the  appointments  northward, 
thus  disabling  myself  from  doing  justice  to  the  South  on  the 
return  of  peace  ;  although  I  may  remark  that  to  transfer  to 
the  North  one  which  has  heretofore  been  in  the  South  would 
not.  with  reference  to  territory  and  population,  be  unjust. 

During  the  long  and  brilliant  judicial  career  of  Judge 
McLean  his  circuit  grew  into  an  empire — altogether  too  large  for 
any  one  judge  to  give  the  courts  therein  more  than  a  nominal 
attendance — rising  in  population  from  one  million  four  hun- 
dred and  seventy  thousand  and  eighteen,  in  1830,  to  six  million 
one  hundred  and  fifty-one  thousand  four  hundred  and  five, 
in  1860. 

Besides  this,  the  country  generally  has  outgrown  our  present 
judicial  system.  If  uniformity  was  at  all  intended,  the  system 
requires  that  all  the  States  shall  be  accommodated  with  circuit 
courts,  attended  by  supreme  judges,  while,  in  fact,  Wisconsin, 
Minnesota,  Iowa,  Kansas,  Florida,  Texas,  California  and  Ore- 
gon, have  never  had  any  such  courts.  Nor  can  this  well  be 
remedied  without  a  change  in  the  system;  because  the  adding 
of  judges  to  the  Supreme  Court,  enough  for  the  accommodation 
of  all  parts  of  the  country,  with  circuit  courts,  would  create  a 
court  altogether  too  numerous  for  a  judicial  body  of  any  sort. 
And  the  evil,  if  it  be  one,  will  increase  as  new  States  come 
into  the  Union.  Circuit  courts  are  useful,  or  they  are  not  use- 
ful ;  if  useful,  no  State  should  be  denied  them ;  if  not  useful, 
no  State  should  have  them.  Let  them  be  provided  for  all,  or 
abolished  as  to  all. 

Three  modifications  occur  to  me,  either  of  which,  I  think, 
would  be  an  improvement  upon  our  present  system.  Let  the 
Supreme  Court  be  of  convenient  number  in  every  event. 
Then,  first,  let  the  whole  country  be  divided  into  circuits  of 
convenient  size,  the  supreme  judges  to  serve  in  a  number  of 
them  corresponding  to  their  own  number,  and  independent 
circuit  judges  be  provided  for  all  the  rest.  Or,  secondly,  let 
the  supreme  judges  be  relieved  from  circuit  duties,  and  circuit 
judges  provided  for  all  the  circuits.  Or,  thirdly,  dispense 
with  circuit  courts  altogether,  leaving  the  judicial  functions 
wholly  to  the  district  courts,  and  an  independent  Supreme 
Court. 

I  respectfully  recommend  to  the  consideration  of  Congress 
the  present  condition  of  the  statute  laws,  with  the  hope  that 


LIFE    OF    ABRAHAM    LINCOLN.  301 

Congress  will  be  able  to  find  an  easy  remedy  for  many  of  the 
inconveniencies  and  evils  which  constantly  embarrass  those 
engaged  in  the  practical  administration  of  them.  Since  the  or- 
ganization of  the  Government,  Congress  has  enacted  some  five 
thousand  acts  and  joint  resolutions,  which  fill  more  than  six 
thousand  closely  printed  pages,  and  are  scattered  through 
many  volumes.  Many  of  these  acts  have  been  drawn  in  haste 
and  without  sufficient  caution,  so  that  their  provisions  are  often 
obscure  in  themselves,  or  in  conflict  With  each  other,  or  at  least 
so  doubtful  as  to  render  it  very  difficult  for  even  the  best  in- 
formed persons  to  ascertain  precisely  what  the  statute  law 
really  is. 

It  seems  to  me  very  important  that  the  statute  laws  should 
be  made  as  plain  and  intelligible  as  possible,  and  be  reduced  to 
as  small  a  compass  as  may  consist  with  thefullness  and  preci- 
sion of  the  will  of  the  legislature  and  the  perspicuity  of  its  lan- 
guage. This,  well  done,  would,  I  think,  greatly  facilitate  the 
labors  of  those  whose  duty  it  is  to  assist  in  the  administration 
of  the  laws,  and  would  be  a  lasting  benefit  to  the  people,  by 
placing  before  them,  in  a  more  accessible  and  intelligible  form, 
the  laws  which  so  deeply  concern  their  interests  and  their 
duties. 

I  am  informed  by  some  whose  opinions  I  respect,  that  all 
the  acts  of  Congress  now  in  force,  and  of  a  permanent  and 
general  nature,  might  be  revised  and  re-written,  so  as  to  be 
embraced  in  one  volume  (or,  at  most,  two  volumes,)  of  ordin- 
ary and  convenient  size.  And  I  respectfully  recommend  to 
Congress  to  consider  of  the  subject,  and,  if  my  suggestion  be 
approved,  to  devise  such  plan  as  to  their  wisdom  shall  geein 
most  proper  for  the  attainment  of  the  end  proposed. 

One  of  the  unavoidable  consequences  of  the  present  insur- 
rection is  the  entire  suppression,  in  many  places,  of  all  the 
ordinary  means  of  administering  civil  justice  by  the  officers 
and  in  the  forms  of  existing  law.  This  is  the  case,  in  whole  or 
in  part,  in  all  the  insurgent  States ;  and  as  our  armies  advance 
upon  and  take  possession  of  parts  of  those  States,  the  practical 
evil  becomes  more  apparent.  There  are  no  courts  nor  officers  to 
whom  the  citizens  of  other  States  may  apply  for  the  enforce- 
ment of  their  lawful  claims  against  citizens  of  the  insurgent 
States ;  and  there  is  a  vast  amount  of  debt  constituting  such 
claims.  Some  have  estimated  it  as  high  as  two  hundred  mil- 
lion dollars,  due,  in  large  part,  from  insurgents,  in  open  rebel- 
lion, to  loyal  citizens,  who  are,  even  now,  making  great  sacrifices, 
in  the  discharge  of  their  patriotic  duty,  to  support  the  Govern- 
ment. 

Under  these  circumstances,  I  have  been  urgently  solicited  to 


302  LIFE   OP   ABRAHAM   LINCOLN. 

establish,  by  military  power,  courts  to  administer  summary 
justice  in  such  cases.  I  have  thus  far  declined  to  do  it.  not 
because  I  had  any  doubt  that  the  end  proposed — the  collection 
of  the  debts — was  just  and  right  in  itself,  but  because  I  have 
been  unwilling  to  go  beyond  the  pressure  of  necessity  in  the 
unusual  exercise  of  power.  But  the  powers  of  Congress,  I 
suppose,  are  equal  to  the  anomalous  occasion,  and  therefore  I 
refer  the  whole  matter  to  Congress,  with  the  hope  that  a  plan 
may  be  devised  for  the  administration  of  justice  in  all  such 
parts  of  the  insurgent  States  and  Territories  as  may  be  under 
the  control  of  this  Government,  whether  by  a  voluntary  return 
to  allegiance  and  order,  or  by  the  power  of  our  arms.  This, 
however,  not  to  be  a  permanent  institution,  but  a  temporary 
substitute,  and  to  cease  as  soon  as  the  ordinary  courts  can  be 
reestablished  in  peace. 

It  is  important  that  some  more  convenient  means  should  be 
provided,  if  possible,  for  the  adjustment  of  claims  against  the 
Government,  especially  in  view  of  their  increased  number  by 
reason  of  the  war.  It  is  as  much  the  duty  of  Government  to 
render  prompt  justice  against  itself,  in  favor  of  citizens,  as  it 
is  to  administer  the  same  between  private  individuals.  The  in- 
vestigation and  adjudication  of  claims,  in  their  nature,  belong 
to  the  judicial  department;  besides,  it  is  apparent  that  the  at- 
tention of  Congress  will  be  more  than  usually  engaged  for 
some  time  to  come  with  great  national  questions.  It  was 
intended,  by  the  organization  of  the  Court  of  Claims,  mainly 
to  remove  this  branch  of  business  from  the  halls  of  Congress ; 
but  while  the  court  has  proved  to  be  an  effective  and  valuable 
means  of  investigation,  it  in  a  great  degree  fails  to  effect  the 
object  of  its  creation  for  want  of  power  to  make  its  judgments 
final. 

Fully  aware  of  the  delicacy,  not  to  say  the  danger,  of  the 
subject,  I  commend  to  your  careful  consideration  whether  this 
power  of  making  judgments  final  may  »ot  properly  be  given  to 
the  court,  reserving  the  right  of  appeal  on  questions  of  law  to 
the  Supreme  Court,  with  such  other  provisions  as  experience 
may  have  shown  to  be  necessary. 

I  ask  attention  to  the  report  of  the  Postmaster  General,  the 
following  being  a  summary  statement  of  the  condition  of  the 
department : 

The  revenue  from  all  sources  during  the  fiscal  year  ending 
June  30,  1861,  including  the  annual  permanent  appropriation 
of  seven  hundred  thousand  dollars  for  the  transportation  of 
"  free  mail  matter,"  was  nine  million  forty-nine  thousand  two 
hundred  and  ninety-six  dollars  and  forty  cents,  being  about  two 
per  cent,  less  than  the  revenue  for  1860. 


LIFE   OF  ABRAHAM   LINCOLN.  303 

The  expenditures  were  thirteen  million  six  hundred  and  six 
thousand  seven  hundred  and  fifty-nine  dollars  and  eleven  cents, 
showing  a  decrease  of  more  than  eight  per  cent,  as  compared 
with  those  of  the  previous  year,  and  leaving  an  excess  of  ex- 
penditure over  the  revenue  for  the  last  fiscal  year  of  four  mil- 
lion five  hundred  and  fifty-seven  thousand  four  hundred  and 
sixty-two  dollars  and  seventy -one  cents. 

The  gross  revenue  for  the  year  ending  June  30,  1863.  is 
estimated  at  an  increase  of  four  per  cent,  on  that  of  1861, 
making  eight  million  six  hundred  and  eighty-three  thousand 
dollars,  to  which  should  be  added  the  earnings  of  the  depart- 
ment in  carrying  free  matter,  viz :  seven  hundred  thousand 
dollars,  making  nine  million  three  hundred  and  eighty-three 
thousand  dollars. 

The  total  expenditures  for  1863  are  estimated  at  twelve  mil- 
lion five  hundred  and  twenty-eight  thousand  dollars,  leaving  an 
estimated  deficiency  of  three  million  one  hundred  and  forty- 
five  thousand  dollars  to  be  supplied  from  the  treasury,  in  ad- 
dition to  the  permanent  appropriation. 

The  present  insurrection  shows,  I  think,  that  the  extension 
of  this  District  across  the  Potomac  river,  at  the  time  of  estab- 
lishing the  capital  here,  was  eminently  wise,  and  consequently 
that  the  relinquishment  of  that  portion  of  it  which  lies  within 
the  State  of  Virginia  was  unwise  and  dangerous.  I  submit  for 
your  consideration  the  expediency  of  regaining  that  part  of 
the  District,  and  the  restoration  of  the  original  boundaries 
thereof,  through  negotiations  with  the  State  of  Virginia. 

The  report  of  the  Secretary  of  the  Interior,  with  the  accom- 
panying documents,  exhibits  the  condition  of  the  several 
branches  of  the  public  business  pertaining  to  that  department. 
The  depressing  influences  of  the  insurrection  have  been 
specially  felt  in  the  operations  of  the  Patent  and  General  Land 
Offices.  The  cash  receipts  from  the  sales  of  public  lands  dur- 
ing the  past  year  have  exceeded  the  expenses  of  our  land  sys- 
tem only  about  two  hundred  thousand  dollars.  The  sales  have 
been  entirely  suspended  in  the  Southern  States,  while  the  in- 
terruptions to  the  business  of  the  country,  and  the  diversions 
of  large  numbers  of  men  from  labor  to  military  service,  have 
obstructed  settlements  in  the  new  States  and  Territories  of  the 
Northwest. 

The  receipts  of  the  Patent  Office  have  declined  in  nine 
months  about  one  hundred  thousand  dollars,  rendering  a  large 
reduction  of  the  force  employed  necessary  to  make  it  self-sus- 
taining. 

The  demands  upon  the  Pension  Office  will  be  largely  in- 
creased by  the  insurrection.  Numerous  applications  for  pen- 


304  LIFE    OF   ABRAHAM    LINCOLN. 

sions,  based  upon  the  casualties  of  the  existing  war,  have  al- 
ready been  made.  There  is  reason  to  believe  that  many  who 
are  now  upon  the  pension  rolls,  and  in  receipt  of  the  bounty 
of  the  Government,  are  in  the  ranks  of  the  insurgent  army,  or 
giving  them  aid  and  comfort.  The  Secretary  of  the  Interior 
has  directed  a  suspension  of  the  payment  of  the  pensions  of 
such  persons  upon  the  proof  of  their  disloyalty.  I  recom- 
mend that  Congress  authorize  that  officer  to  cause  the  names 
of  such  persons  to  be  stricken  from  the  pension  rolls. 

The  relations  of  the  Government  with  the  Indian  tribes 
have  been  greatly  disturbed  by  the  insurrection,  especially  in 
the  Southern  Superintendency  and  in  that  of  New  Mexico. 
The  Indian  country  south  of  Kansas  is  in  the  possession  of 
insurgents  from  Texas  and  Arkansas.  The  agents  of  the 
United  States  appointed  since  the  4th  of  March  for  this  su- 
perintendency  have  been  unable  to  reach  their  posts,  while  the 
most  of  those  who  were  in  office  before  that  time  have  espoused 
the  insurrectionary  cause,  and  assume  to  exercise  the  powers  of 
agents  by  virtue  of  commissions  from  the  insurrectionists.  It 
has  been  stated  in  the  public  press  that  a  portion  of  those  In- 
dians have  been  organized  as  a  military  force,  and  are  attached 
to  the  army  of  the  insurgents.  Although  the  Government  has 
no  official  information  upon  this  subject,  letters  have  been  writ- 
ten to  the  Commissioner  of  Indian  Affairs  by  several  promi- 
nent chiefs,  giving  assurance  of  their  loyalty  to  the  United 
States,  and  expressing  a  wish  for  the  presence  of  Federal 
troops  to  protect  them.  It  is  believed  that  upon  the  reposses- 
sion of  the  country  by  the  Federal  forces  the  Indians  will 
readily  cease  all  hostile  demonstrations,  and  resume  their 
former  relations  to  the  Government. 

Agriculture,  confessedly  the  largest  interest  of  the  nation, 
has  not  a  department,  nor  a  bureau,  but  a  clerkship  only, 
assigned  to  it  in  the  Government.  While  it  is  fortunate  that 
this  great  interest  is  so  independent  in  its  nature  as  to  not 
have  demanded  and  extorted  more  from  the  Government,  I 
respectfully  ask  Congress  to  consider  whether  something  more 
can  not  be  given  voluntarily  with  general  advantage. 

Annual  reports  exhibiting  the  condition  of  our  agriculture, 
commerce  and  manufactures,  would  present  a  fund  of  informa- 
tion of  great  practical  value  to  the  country.  While  I  make  no 
suggestion  as  to  details,  I  venture  the  opinion  that  an  agricul- 
tural and  statistical  bureau  might  profitably  be  organized. 

The  execution  of  the  laws  for  the  suppression  of  the  Afri- 
can slave-trade  has  been  confided  to  the  Department  of  the 
Interior.  It  is  a  subject  of  gratulation  that  the  efforts  which 
have  been  made  for  the  suppression  of  this  inhuman  traffic 


LIFE   OF   ABRAHAM   LINCOLN.  305 

have  been  recently  attended  with  unusual  success.  Five  ves- 
sels being  fitted  out  for  the  slave-trade  have  been  seized  and 
condemned.  .  Two  mates  of  vessels  engaged  in  the  trade, 
and  one  person  in  equipping  a  vessel  as  a  slaver,  have  been 
convicted  and  subjected  to  the  penalty  of  fine  and  imprison- 
ment, and  one  captain,  taken  with  a  cargo  of  Africans  on 
board  his  vessel,  has  been  convicted  of  the  highest  grade  of 
offense  under  our  laws,  the  punishment  of  which  is  death. 

The  Territories  of  Colorado,  Dakota,  and  Nevada,  created  by 
the  last  Congress,  have  been  organized,  and  civil  administra- 
tion has  been  inaugurated  therein  under  auspices  especially 
gratifying,  when  it  is  considered  that  the  leaven  of  treason  was 
found  existing  in  some  of  these  new  countries  when  the  Federal 
officers  arrived  there. 

The  abundant  natural  resources  of  these  Territories,  with, 
the  security  and  protection  afforded  by  organized  government, 
will  doubtless  invite  to  them  a  large  immigration  when  peace 
shall  restore  the  business  of  the  country  to  its  accustomed 
channels.  I  submit  the  resolutions  of  the  Legislature  of  Colo- 
rado, which  evidence  the  patriotic  spirit  of  the  people  of  the 
Territory.  So  far,  the  authority  of  the  United  States  has  been 
upheld  in  all  the  Territories,  as  it  is  hoped  it  will  be  in  the 
future.  I  commend  their  interests  and  defense  to  the  enlight- 
ened and  generous  care  of  Congress. 

I  recommend  to  the  favorable  consideration  of  Congress  the 
interests  of  the  District  of  Columbia.  The  insurrection  has 
been  the  cause  of  much  suffering  and  sacrifice  to  its  inhabi- 
tants, and  as  they  have  no  representative  in  Congress,  that 
body  should  not  overlook  their  just  claims  upon  the  Govern- 
ment. • 

At  your  late  session  a  joint  resolution  was  adopted  author- 
izing the  President  to  take  measures  for  facilitating  a  proper 
representation  of  the  industrial  interests  of  the  United  States 
at  the  exhibition  of  the  industry  of  all  nations,  to  be  holden  at 
London  in  the  year  1862.  I  regret  to  say  I  have  been  unable 
to  give  personal  attention  to  this  subject — a  subject  at  once  so 
interesting  in  itself,  and  so  extensively  and  intimately  con- 
nected with  the  material  prosperity  of  the  world.  Through 
the  Secretaries  of  State  and  of  the  Interior  a  plan,  or  system, 
has  been  devised,  and  partly  matured,  and  which  will  be  laid 
before  you. 

Under  and  by  virtue  of  the  act  of  Congress  entitled  "An 
act  to  confiscate  property  used  for  insurrectionary  purposes," 
approved  August  6,  1861,  the  legal  claims  of  certain  persons 
to  the  labor  and  service  of  certain  other  persons  have  become 
forfeited  ;  and  numbers  of  the  latter,  thus  liberated,  are  already 
26 


306  LIFE   OF   ABRAHAM   LINCOLN. 

dependent  on  the  United  States,  and  must  be  provided  for  iu 
some  way.  Besides  this,  it  is  not  impossible  that  some  of  the 
States  will  pass  similar  enactments  for  their  own  benefit  respect- 
ively, and  by  operations  of  which  persons  of  the  same  class 
will  be  thrown  upon  them  for  disposal.  In  such  case  I  recom- 
mend that  Congress  provide  for  accepting  such  persons  from 
such  States  according  to  some  mode  of  valuation,  in  lieu,  pro 
tanto,  of  direct  taxes,  or  upon  some  other  plan  to  be  agreed  on 
with  such  States,  respectively ;  that  such  persons,  on  such 
acceptance  by  the  General  Government,  be  at  once  deemed  free  ; 
and  that,  in  any  event,  steps  be  taken  for  colonizing  both 
classes  (or  the  one  first  mentioned,  if  the  other  shall  not  be 
brought  into  existence)  at  some  place  or  places  in  a  cli- 
mate congenial  to  them.  It  might  be  well  to  consider,  too, 
whether  the  free  colored  people  already  in  the  United  States 
could  not,  so  far  as  individuals  may  desire,  be  included  in  such 
colonization. 

To  carry  out  the  plan  of  colonization  may  involve  the 
acquiring  of  territory,  and  also  the  appropriation  of  money 
beyond  that  to  be  expended  in  the  territorial  acquisition.  Hav- 
ing practiced  the  acquisition  of  territory  for  nearly  sixty  years, 
the  question  of  constitutional  power  to  do  so  is  no  longer  an 
open  one  with  us.  The  power  was  questioned  at  first  by  Mr. 
Jefferson,  who,  however,  in  the  purchase  of  Louisiana,  yielded 
his  scruples  on  the  plea  of  great  expediency.  If  it  be  said 
that  the  only  legitimate  object  of  acquiring  territory  is  to  fur- 
nish homes  for  white  men,  this  measure  effects  that  object,  for 
the  emigration  of  colored  men  leaves  additional  room  for  white 
men  remaining  or  coming  here.  Mr.  Jefferson,  however,  placed 
the  importance  of  procuring  Louisiana  more  on  political  and 
commercial  grounds  than  on  providing  room  for  pppulation. 

On  this  whole  proposition,  including  the  appropriation  of 
money  with  the  acquisition  of  territory,  does  not  the  expedi- 
ency amount  to  absolute  necessity — that  without  which  the 
Government  itself  can  not  be  perpetuated  ? 

The  war  continues.  In  considering  the  policy  to  be  adopted 
for  suppressing  the  insurrection,  I  have  been  anxious  and  care- 
ful that  the  inevitable  conflict  for  this  purpose  shall  not  degen- 
erate into  a  violent  and  remorseless  revolutionary  struggle.  I 
have,  therefore,  in  every  case  thought  it  proper  to  keep  the 
integrity  of  the  Union  prominent  as  the  primary  object  of  the 
contest  on  our  part,  leaving  all  questions  which  are  not  of  vital 
military  importance  to  the  more  deliberate  action  of  the  legis- 
lature. 

In  the  exercise  of  my  best  discretion,  I  have  adhered  to  the 
blockade  of  the  ports  held  by  the  insurgents,  instead  of  putting 


LIFE  OP  ABRAHAM  LINCOLN.  307 

in  force,  by  proclamation,  the  law  of  Congress  enacted  at  the 
late  session  for  closing  those  ports. 

So,  also,  obeying  the  dictates  of  prudence,  as  wejl  as  the 
obligations  of  law,  instead  of  transcending,  I  have  adhered  to 
the  act  of  Congress  to  confiscate  property  used  for  insurrec- 
tionary purposes.  If  a  new  law  upon  the  same  subject  shall  be 
proposed,  its  propriety  will  be  duly  considered.  The  Union 
must  be  preserved ;  and  hence  all  indispensable  means  must  be 
employed.  We  should  not  be  in  haste  to  determine  that  radi- 
cal and  extreme  measures,  which  may  reach  the  loyal  as  well  as 
the  disloyal,  are  indispensable. 

The  inaugural  address  at  the  beginning  of  the  administration, 
and  the  message  to  Congress  at  the  late  special  session,  were 
both  mainly  devoted  to  the  domestic  controversy  out  of  which 
the  insurrection  and  consequent  war  have  sprung.  Nothing 
now  occurs  to  add  or  subtract  to  or  from  the  principles  or  gen- 
eral purposes  stated  and  expressed  in  those  documents. 

The  last  ray  of  hope  for  preserving  the  Union  peaceably 
expired  at  the  assault  upon  Fort  Sumter ;  and  a  general  review 
of  what  has  occurred  since  may  not  be  unprofitable.  What 
was  painfully  uncertain  then  is  much  better  defined  and  more 
distinct  now ;  and  the  progress  of  events  is  plainly  in  the  right 
direction.  The  insurgents  confidently  claimed  a  strong  sup- 
port from  north  of  Mason  and  Dixon's  line,  and  the  friends  of 
the  Union  were  not  free  from  apprehension  on  the  point. 
This,  however,  was  soon  settled  definitely,  and  on  the  right 
side.  South  of  the  line,  noble  little  Delaware  led  off  right  from 
the  first.  Maryland  was  made  to  seem  against  the  Union.  Our 
soldiers  were  assaulted,  bridges  were  burned,  and  railroads  toru 
up  within  her  limits,  and  we  were  many  days,  at  one  time, 
without  the  ability  to  bring  a  single  regiment  over  her  soil  to 
the  capital.  Now  her  bridges  and  railroads  are  repaired  and 
open  to  the  Government ;  she  already  gives  seven  regiments  to 
the  cause  of  the  Union  and  none  to  the  enemy ;  and  her  peo- 
ple, at  a  regular  election,  have  sustained  the  Union  by  a  larger 
majority  and  a  larger  aggregate  vote  than  they  ever  before  gave 
to  any  candidate  or  any  question.  Kentucky,  too,  for  some 
time  in  doubt,  is  now  decidedly,  and,  I  think,  unchangeably, 
ranged  on  the  side  of  the  Union.  Missouri  is  comparatively 
quiet,  and  I  believe  can  not  again  be  overrun  by  the  insurrec- 
tionists. These  three  States  of  Maryland,  Kentucky  and  Mis- 
souri, neither  of  which  would  promise  a  single  soldier  at  first, 
have  now  an  aggregate  of  not  less  than  forty  thousand  in  the 
field  for  the  Union  ;  while  of  their  citizens  certainly  not  more 
than  a  third  of  that  number,  and  they  of  doubtful  whereabouts 
and  doubtful  existence,  are  in  arms  against  it.  After  a  some- 


308  LIFE   OP   ABRAHAM   LINCOLN. 

what  bloody  struggle  of  months,  winter  closes  on  the  Union 
people  of  Western  Virginia,  leaving  them  masters  of  their 
own  country. 

An  insurgent  force  of  about  fifteen  hundred,  for  months 
dominating  the  narrow  peninsular  region,  constituting  the 
counties  of  Accomac  and  Northampton,  and  known  as  the  east- 
ern shore  of  Virginia,  together  with  some  contiguous  parts  of 
Maryland,  have  laid  down  their  arms;  and  the  people  there 
have  renewed  their  allegiance  to,  and  accepted  the  protection 
of,  the  old  flag.  This  leaves  no  armed  insurrectionist  north  of 
the  Potomac  or  east  of  the  Chesapeake. 

Also  we  have  obtained  a  footing  at  each  of  the  isolated 
points,  on  the  southern  coast,  of  Hatteras,  Port  Royal,  Tybeo 
Island,  near  Savannah,  and  Ship  Island ;  and  we  like- 
wise have  some  general  accounts  of  popular  movements,  in 
behalf  of  the  Union,  in  North  Carolina  and  Tennessee. 

These  things  demonstrate  that  the  cause  of  the  Union  is  ad- 
vancing steadily  and  certainly  southward. 

Since  your  last  adjournment,  Lieut.  Gen.  Scott  has  retired 
from  the  head  of  the  army.  During  his  long  life,  the  nation 
has  not  been  unmindful  of  his  merit;  yet,  on  calling 
to  mind  how  faithfully,  ably  and  brilliantly  he  has  served  the 
country,  from  a  time  far  back  in  our  history,  when  few 
of  the  now  living  had  been  born,  and  thenceforward  'continu- 
ally, I  can  not  but  think  we  are  still  his  debtors.  I  submit, 
therefore,  for  your  consideration,  what  further  mark  of 
recognition  is  due  to  him,  and  to  ourselves,  as  a  grateful  people. 

With  the  retirement  of  Gen.  Scott  came  the  Executive  duty 
of  appointing,  in  his  stead,  a  General-in-chief  of  the  army. 
It  is  a  fortunate  circumstance  that  neither  in  council  nor 
country  was  there,  so  far  as  I  know,  any  difference  of  opinion 
as  to  the  proper  person  to  be  selected.  The  retiring  chief  re- 
peatedly expressed  his  judgment  in  favor  of  Gen.  McClellan  for 
the  position,  and  in  this  the  nation  seemed  to  give  a  unanimous 
concurrence.  The  designation  of  Gen.  McClellan  is,  therefore, 
in  considerable  degree,  the  selection  of  the  country  as  well  as 
of  the  Executive ;  and  hence  there  is  better  reason  to  hope 
there  will  be  given  him  the  confidence  and  cordial  support 
thus,  by  fair  implication,  promised,  and  without  which  he  can 
not,  with  so  full  efficiency,  serve  the  country. 

It  has  been  said  that  one  bad  General  is  better  than  two 
good  ones  ;  and  the  saying  is  true,  if  taken  to  mean  no  more 
than  that  an  army  is  better  directed  by  a  single  mind,  though 
inferior,  than  by  two  superior  ones  at  variance  and  cross- pur- 
poses with  each  other. 

And  the  same  is  true  in  nil  joint  operation?  wherein  those 


LIFE  OP  ABRAHAM  LINCOLN.  309 

engaged  can  have  none  but  a  common  end  in  view,  and  can 
differ  only  as  to  the  choice  of  means.  In  a  storm  at  sea, 
no  one  on  board  can  wish  the  ship  to  sink,  and  yet,  not  unfre- 
quently,  all  go  down  together  because  too  many  will  direct 
and  no  single  mind  can  be  allowed  to  control. 

It  continues  to  develop  that  the  insurrection  is  largely,  if  not 
exclusively,  a  war  upon  the  first  principle  of  popular  govern- 
ment— the  rights  of  the  people.  Conclusive  evidence  of  this 
is  found  in  the  most  grave  and  maturely-considered  public  doc- 
uments, as  well  as  in  the  general  tone  of  the  insurgents.  In 
those  documents  we  find  the  abridgment  of  the  existing 
right  of  suffrage  and  the  denial  to  the  people  of  all  right  to 
participate  in  the  selection  of  public  officers,  except  the  legis- 
lative, boldly  advocated,  with  labored  arguments  to  prove  that 
large  control  of  the  people  in  government  is  the  source 
of  all  political  evil.  Monarchy  itself  is  sometimes  hinted  at 
as  a  possible  refuge  from  the  power  of  the  people. 

In  my  present  position  I  could  scarcely  be  justified  were  I  to 
omit  raising  a  warning  voice  against  this  approach  of  return- 
ing despotism. 

It  is  not  needed  nor  fitting  here  that  a  general  argument 
should  be  made  in  favor  of  popular  institutions  ;  but  there  is 
one  point,  with  its  connections,  not  so  hackneyed  as  most 
others,  to  which  I  ask  a  brief  attention.  It  is  the  effort 
to  place  capital  on  an  equal  footing  with,  if  not  above  labor,  in 
the  structure  of  government.  It  is  assumed  that  labor  is 
available  only  in  connection  with  capital — that  nobody  labors 
unless  somebody  else,  owning  capital,  somehow  by  the  use  of 
it  induces  him  to  labor.  This  assumed,  ft  is  next  considered 
whether  it  is  best  that  capital  shall  hire  laborers,  and  thus 
induce  them  to  work  by  their  own  consent,  or  buy  them, 
and  drive  them  to  it  without  their  consent.  Having  proceeded 
so  far,  it  is  naturally  concluded  that  all  laborers  are  either 
hired  laborers,  or  what  we  call  slaves.  And  further,  it  is 
assumed  that  whoever  is  once  a  hired  laborer  is  fixed  in  that 
condition  for  life.  'i-";  - 

Now,  there  is  no  such  relation  between  capital  and  labor  as 
assumed  ;  nor  is  there  any  such  thing  as  a  free  man  being  fixed 
for  life  in  the  condition  of  a  hired  laborer.  Both  these  assump- 
tions are  false,  and  all  inferences  from  them  are  groundless. 

Labor  is  prior  to  and  independent  of  capital.  Capital  is  only 
the  fruit  of  labor,  and  could  never  have  existed  if  labor  had 
not  first  existed.  Labor  is  the  superior  of  capital,  and  deserves 
much  the  higher  consideration.  Capital  has  its  rights,  which 
are  as  worthy  of  protection  as  any  other  rights.  Nor  is  it 
denied  that  there  is,  and  probably  always  will  be,  a  relation 


310  LIFE  OF  ABRAHAM   LINCOLN. 

between  labor  and  capital  producing  mutual  benefits.  The 
error  is  in  assuming  that  the  whole  labor  of  community  exists 
within  that  relation.  A  few  men  own  capital,  and  that  few 
avoid  labor  themselves,  and  with  their  capital  hire  or  buy 
another  few  to  labor  for  them.  A  large  majority  belong  to 
neither  class — neither  work  for  others  nor  have  others  working 
for  them.  In  most  of  the  Southern  States  a  majority  of  the 
whole  people,  of  all  colors,  are  neither  slaves  nor  masters, 
while  in  the  Northern  a  large  majority  are  neither  hirers  nor 
hired.  Men,  with  their  families — wives,  sons,  and  daughters — 
work  for  themselves,  on  their  farms,  in  their  houses,  and  in 
their  shops,  taking  the  whole  product  to  themselves,  and  asking 
no  favors  of  capital,  on  the  one  hand,  nor  of  hired  laborers  or 
slaves  on  the  other.  It  is  not  forgotten  that  a  considerable 
number  of  persons  mingle  their  own  labor  with  capital — that 
is,  they  labor  with  their  own  hands,  and  also  buy  or  hire  others 
to  labor  for  them  ;  but  this  is  only  a  mixed,  and  not  a  distinct 
class.  No  principle  stated  is  disturbed  by  the  existence  of  this 
mixed  class. 

Again,  as  has  already  been  said,  there  is  not,  of  necessity, 
any  such  thing  as  the  free  hired  laborer  being  fixed  to  that 
condition  for  life.  Many  independent  men  every-where  in  these 
States,  a  few  years  back  in  their  lives,  were  hired  laborers. 
The  prudent,  penniless  beginner  in  the  world,  labors  for  wages 
awhile,  saves  a  surplus  with  which  to  buy  tools  or  land  for  him- 
self, then  labors  on  his  own  account  another  while,  and  at  length 
hires  another  new  beginner  to  help  him.  This  is  the  just,  and 
generous,  and  prosperous  system,  which  opens  the  way  to  all — 
gives  hope  to  all,  and  consequent  energy,  and  progress,  and  im- 
provement of  condition  to  all.  No  men  living  are  more  worthy 
to  be  trusted  than  those  who  toil  up  from  poverty  ;  none  less 
inclined  to  take  or  touch  aught  which  they  have  not  honestly 
earned.  Let  them  beware  of  surrendering  a  political  power 
which  they  already  possess,  and  which,  if  surrendered,  will 
surely  be  used  to  close  the  door  of  advancement  against  such 
as  they,  and  to  fix  new  disabilities  and  burdens  upon  them,  till 
all  of  liberty  shall  be  lost. 

From  the  first  taking  of  our  National  Census  to  the  last  are 
seventy  years ;  and  we  find  our  population  at  the  end  of  the 
period  eight  times  as  great  as  it  was  at  the  beginning.  The 
increase  cri?  those  other  things  which  men  deem  desirable  has 
been  even  greater.  We  thus  have  at  one  view  what  the  popu- 
lar principle,  applied  to  Government  through  the  machinery  of 
the  States  and  the  Union,  has  produced  in  a  given  time,  and 
also  what  it  firmly  maintained,  it  promises  for  the  future. 
There  are  already  among  us  those  who,  if  the  Union  be  pre- 


LIFE    OF   ABBAHAM   LINCOLN.  311 

served,  will  live  to  sec  it  contain  two  hundred  and  fifty  millions. 
The  struggle  of  to-day  is  not  altogether  for  to-day ;  it  is  for  a 
vast  future  also.  With  a  reliance  on  Providence  all  the  more 
firm  and  earnest,  let  us  proceed  in  the  great  task  which  events 
have  devolved  upon  us. 

ABRAHAM  LINCOLN. 
WASHINGTON,  December  3,  1861. 

The  organization  of  an  opposition  party,  taking  the  Demo- 
cratic name,  had  been  effected  under  the  auspices  of  a  few  anti- 
war men  in  Congress,  who  had  occasionally  ventured  to  speak 
out  their  dissent  at  the  previous  session.  This  faction,  repre- 
sented in  Ohio  by  Vallandigham,  and  in  Illinois  by  Richard- 
son, having  apparently  very  little  support  among  the  people, 
began  at  this  session  to  work  in  earnest,  boldly  aspiring  to 
assume  control  of  the  House  of  Representatives  to  be  elected 
during  the  coming  season.  Already,  too,  plans  were  formed  for 
carrying  the  next  Presidential  election,  and  there  were  not 
wanting  sagacious  observers,  who  believed  that  schemes  of  this 
sort  had  the  sympathy  of  at  least  one  Major  General  in  the  army. 

At  this  session  of  Congress  it  was  early  apparent  that  a  great 
advance  had  taken  place  in  the  public  mind  on  the  question  of 
Slavery.  Neither  Secretary  Seward's  diplomatic  assurances  to 
Governments  abroad  that  no  change  in  Southern  institutions 
was  contemplated  in  any  event,  nor  McClellan's  manifesto  on 
this  subject  to  the  people  of  Virginia,  nor  Halleck's  order 
excluding  fugitive  slaves  from  the  lines  of  the  Army  of  the 
West,  nor  the  22d  of  July  resolution  of  Mr.  Crittenden,  were 
now  satisfactory  to  the  people,  who  began  already  to  demand 
that  the  Rebellion  should  be  attacked  in  its  vital  and  vulner- 
able point.  On  the  third  day  of  the  session,  the  Crittenden 
Resolution  was  laid  on  the  table,  in  the  popular  branch  of  Con- 
gress, by  a  vote  of  71  to  65.  The  demand  of  the  people  for 
the  destruction  of  Slavery  was  daily  becoming  more  manifest 
and  more  earnest.  The  President,  in  his  inaugural  address, 
had  clearly  foreseen  a  time  when,  if  war  should  come,  the 
destruction  of  Slavery  must  follow.  He  made  no  pledge,  under 
such  circumstances,  not  to  hasten  its  destruction  by  all  the 
means  in  his  power.  So  soon  as  the  people,  whose  will  he 


312  LIFE  OF  ABRAHAM   LINCOLN. 

intended  faithfully  to  execute,  should  sustain  him  in  such  a  war 
measure — now  beginning  to  be  deemed  necessary — he  had  no 
dread  to  strike.  A  joint  committee  of  both  Houses  to  inquire 
into  the  conduct  of  the  war  was  appointed  in  the  Senate,  on  the 
18th,  and. .in  the  House  on  the  19th  of  December.  It  is  need- 
less to  say  that  this  proceeding  arose  from  the  general  dissatis- 
faction felt  at  the  inaction  of  the  Army  of  the  Potomac,  in  the 
face  of  a  greatly  inferior  enemy,  as  well  as  from  the  disastrous 
issue  of  the  only  positive  movement  yet  attempted — that  at 
Ball's  Bluff.  The  members  of  that  committee  were :  Messrs. 
Wade,  Chandler,  and  Andrew  Johnson  (whose  place  was  sub- 
sequently supplied  by  Mr.  Wright^  of  Indiana),  of  the  Senate ; 
and  Messrs.  Gooch,  Covode,  Julian,  and  Odell,  of  the  House. 
The  evidence  collected  by  this  committee  from  the  best  sources 
of  information,  including  the  testimony  of  the  highest  Generals, 
was,  from  time  to  time,  laid  before  the  President  for  his  consid- 
eration, and  subsequently  given  to  the  public. 

The  exciting  subject  of  the  arrest  of  Mason  and  Slidell  was 
early  seized  upon  by  the  leaders  of  the  Opposition  in  the 
House,  as  one  suited  to  their  purpose.  An  adroitly  worded 
resolution  with  an  elaborate  preamble,  reciting  the  complimen- 
tary order  of  the  Secretary  of  the  Navy  on  this  arrest,  and  the 
unanimous  thanks  of  the  House  to  Com.  Wilkes  already  passed, 
was  offered  in  the  House,  calling  upon  the^  President  not  to 
yield  "  to  any  menace  or  demand  of  the  British  Government." 
This  was  referred,  against  the  wishes  of  the  mover,  to  the  Com- 
mittee on  Foreign  Affairs — ayes  109,  nays  16.  At  a  later 
period,  December  30,  the  President  transmitted  to  Congress  the 
correspondence  between  Mr.  Seward  and  the  authorities  of 
Great  Britain  on  this  subject,  conceding  the  illegality  of  the 
arrest,  though  strictly  according  to  English  precedent,  and 
offering  the  proper  satisfaction.  Mason  and  Slidell  were  placed 
on  board  a  British  vessel  lying  off  Boston,  to  be  transported  to 
their  original  destination:  If  this  decision  caused  a  momentary 
disappointment,  its  profound  wisdom  and  prudence  were  at  once 
apparent.  It  was  to  the  supporters  of  Davis,  and  to  the  sym- 
pathizers with  him,  the  defeat  of  an  ardently  cherished  hope 
that  so  unimportant  a  matter  as  the  detention  or  surrender 


LIFE   OF   ABRAHAM   LINCOLN.  313 

of  their  two  diplomatic  friends  would  involve  this  country  in 
a  foreign  war. 

A  motion  in  the  House,  on  the  10th  of  December,  involving 
the  question  of  the  "arbitrary  arrests"  of  bold  complotters  of 
treason,  in  the  loyal  States,  showed  108  members  in  favor  of 
sustaining  the  President,  and  26  in  opposition. 

At  this  session,  Congress  provided  for  the  issue  of  legal- 
tender  notes,  and  passed  an  internal  revenue  bill,  which  should 
largely  increase  the  receipts  into  the  Treasury,  insuring  a  basis 
for  the  payment  of  interest  on  loans,  also  authorized,  and  con- 
fidence in  the  redemption  of  the  National  currency.  The 
policy  adopted  was  substantially  that  recommended  and  ap- 
proved by  the  distinguished  head  of  the  Treasury  Department, 
Mr.  Chase.  Much  of  the  time  of  Congress  was  also  occupied 
in  considering  various  bills  for  confiscating  the  property  of 
Rebels,  and  in  maturing  the  measure  ultimately  passed. 

On  the  13th  of  January,  1862,  Mr.  Cameron  resigned  his 
place  in  the  Cabinet  as  Secretary  of  War,  receiving  an  appoint- 
ment as  Minister  to  Russia,  and  the  Hon.  Edwin  M.  Stanton 
was  appointed  in  his  stead. 

The  message  sent  by  President  Lincoln  to  Congress  on  the 
6th  of  March,  in  regard  to  gradual  and  compensated  emancipa- 
tion, shows  that  he  had  now  come  to  look  seriously  upon  the 
question  of  employing  some  means  for  the  complete  eradication 
of  Slavery.  He  intimates  plainly  that  such  a  conviction  was 
on  his  mind  when  preparing  his  message  of  Dec.  3,  1861.  His 
emancipation  message  is  in  these  words : 

FELLOW-CITIZENS  OF  THE  SENATE  AND  HOUSE  OF  REPRE- 
SENTATIVES :  I  recommend  the  adoption  of  a  joint  resolution 
by  your  honorable  bodies,  which  shall  be  substantially  as  fol- 
lows: 

Resolved,  That  the  United  States  ought  to  cooperate  with 
any  State  which  may  adopt  gradual  abolishment  of  slavery, 
giving  to  such  State  pecuniary  aid,  to  be  used  by  such  State  in 
its  discretion,  to  compensate  for  the  inconveniences,  public  and 
private,  produced  by  such  charge  of  system. 

If  the  proposition  contained  in  the  resolution  does  not  meet 
the  approval  of  Congress  and  the  country,  there  is  the  end ; 
but  if  it  docs  command  such  approval,  I  deem  it  of  importance 


^.14  LIFE   OP   ABRAHAM    LINCOLN. 

that  the  States  and  people  immediately  interested  should  be  at 
once  distinctly  notified  of  the  fact,  so  that  they  may  begin  to 
consider  whether  to  accept  or  reject  it.  The  Federal  Govern- 
ment would  find  its  highest  interest  in  such  a  measure  as  one 
of  the  most  efficient  means  of  self-preservation.  The  leaders 
of  the  existing  insurrection  entertain  the  hope  that  this  Gov- 
ernment will  ultimately  be  forced  to  acknowledge  the  inde- 
pendence of  some  part  of  the  disaffected  region,  and  that  all 
the  Slave  States  north  of  such  part  will  then  say,  "  the  Union 
for  which  we  have  struggled  being  already  gone,  we  now 
choose  to  go  with  the  southern  section."  To  deprive  them  of 
this  hope  substantially  ends  the  rebellion,  and  the  initiation  of 
emancipation  completely  deprives  them  of  it  as  to  all  the  States 
initiating  it.  The  point  is  notthataZ/  the  States  tolerating  slavery 
would  very  soon,  if  at  all,  initiate  emancipation,  but  that,  while 
the  offer  is  equally  made  to  all,  the  more  northern  shall,  by 
such  initiation,  make  it  certain  to  the  more  southern  that  in  no 
event  will  the  former  ever  join  the  latter  in  their  proposed  con- 
federacy. I  say  "  initiation,"  because,  in  my  judgment,  grad- 
ual, and  not  sudden  emancipation,  is  better  for  all.  In  the 
mere  financial  or  pecuniary  view,  any  member  of  Congress, 
with  the  census  tables  and  treasury  reports  before  him,  can 
readily  see  for  himself  how  very  soon  the  current  expenditures 
of  this  war  would  purchase,  at  fair  valuation,  all  the  slaves  in 
any  named  State.  Such  a  proposition  on  the  part  of  the  Gen- 
eral Government  sets  up  no  claim  of  a  right  by  Federal  author- 
ity to  interfere  with  slavery  within  State  limits,  referring,  as  it 
does,  the  absolute  control  of  the  subject  in  each  case  to  the 
State  and  its  people  immediately  interested.  It  is  proposed  as 
a  matter  of  perfectly  free  choice  with  them. 

In  the  annual  message  last  December  I  thought  fit  to  say,  "the 
Union  must  be  preserved  ;  and  hence  all  indispensable  means 
must  be  employed."  I  said  this  not  hastily,  but  deliberately. 
War  has  been  made,  and  continues  to  be  an  indispensable 
means  to  this  end.  A  practical  reacknowledgment  of  the 
National  authority  would  render  the  war  unnecessary,  and  it 
would  at  once  cease.  If,  however,  resistance  continues,  the 
war  must  also  continue,  and  it  is  impossible  to  foresee  all  the 
incidents  which  may  atte,nd  and  all  the  ruin  which  may  follow 
it.  Such  as  may  seem  indispensable,  or  may  obviously  promise 
great  efficiency  toward  ending  the  struggle,  must  and  will  come. 

The  proposition  now  made,  though  an  offer  only,  I  hope  it 
may  be  esteemed  no  offense  to  ask  whether  the  pecuniary  con- 
sideration tendered  would  not  be  of  more  value  to  the  Statea 
and  private  persons  concerned  than  are  the  institutions  and 
property  in  it,  in  the  present  aspect  of  affairs. 


LIFE   OP   ABRAHAM   LINCOLN.  315 

While  it  is  true  that  the  adoption  of  the  proposed  resolu- 
tion would  be  merely  initiatory,  and  not  within  itself  a  prac- 
tical measure,  it  is  recommended  in  the  hope  that  it  would 
soon  lead  to  important  practical  results.  In  full  view  of  my 
great  responsibility  to  my  God  and  to  my  country,  I  earn- 
estly beg  the  attention  of  Congress  and  the  people  to  the 
subject. 

ABRAHAM  LINCOLN. 

March  6,  1862. 

The  resolution  recommended  in  the  foregoing  paper  was 
passed  by  the  House  on  the  llth  of  March — ayes  97,  noes  36. 
Only  five  of  the  affirmative  votes  were  from  the  Slave  States. 
The  resolution  was  concurred  in  by  the  Senate,  with  Jittle  op- 
position, and  signed  by  the  President  on  the  10th  of  April. 

Early  in  April  the  Senate  passed  a  bill  abolishing  slavery  in, 
the  District  of  Columbia,  with  compensation  to  the  loyal  own- 
ers of  slaves.  This  bill  passed  the  House  on  the  llth  of  the 
same  month,  four  days  after  its  transmission — ayes  92,  noes  39. 
In  communicating  his  approval  of  this  measure,  the  President, 
departing  from  the  usual  practice,  sent  a  message  to  Congress 
in  the  following  terms  : 

FELLOW-CITIZENS  OP  THE  SENATE  AND  HOUSE  OF  REPRE- 
SENTATIVES :  The  act  entitled  "  An  act  for  the  release  of  certain 
persons  held  to  service  or  labor  in  the  District  of  Columbia," 
has  this  day  been  approved  and  signed. 

I  have  never  doubted  the  constitutional  authority  of  Con- 
gress to  abolish  slavery  in  this  District,  and  I  have  ever  de- 
sired to  see  the  National  Capital  freed  from  the  institution  in 
some  satisfactory  way.  Hence  there  has  never  been,  in  my 
mind,  any  question  upon  the  subject  except  the  one  of  expedi- 
ency, arising  in  view  of  all  the  circumstances.  If  there 
be  matters  within  and  about  this  act  which  might  have  taken  a 
course  or  shape  more  satisfactory  to  my  judgment,  I  do  not 
attempt  to  specify  them.  I  am  gratified  that  the  two  prin- 
ciples of  compensation  and  colonization  are  both  recognized 
and  practically  applied  in  the  act. 

In  the  matter  of  compensation  it  is  provided  that  claims 
may  be  presented  within  ninety  days  from  the  passage  of  the 
act,  "but  not  thereafter,"  and  there  is  no  saving  for  minors, 
femmes-cotcrt,  insane  or  absent  persons.  I  presume  this  is  an 


516  LIFE   OF    ABRAHAM    L1NCOLX. 

omission  by  mere  oversight,  and  I  recommend  that  it  be  sup- 
plied by  an  amendatory  or  supplemental  act. 
April  16,  1862.  ABRAHAM  LINCOLN. 

On  the  10th  of  June,  President  Lincoln  communicated 
to  Congress  a  copy  of  a  treaty  negotiated  with  Great  Britain, 
having  for  its  design  a  complete  suppression  of  the  African 
slave-trade. 

The  Confiscation  Act,  as  finally  matured  and  passed  by  Con- 
gress, with  a  special  provision  for  conditional  pardon  and 
amnesty,  received  the  approval  of  the  Executive  on  the 
last  day  of  the  session,  July  17th.  To  obviate  constitutional 
objections  known  to  exist  in  the  President's  mind,  to  the  meas- 
ure as  at  first  passed,  a  supplementary  joint  resolution  had 
been  adopted,  limiting  the  forfeiture  of  real  estate  to  the  life- 
time of  its  rebel  owner.  His  views  on  this  subject  were 
officially  set  forth  in  a  document,  from  which  the  following 
memorable  sentences  are  quoted  : 

It  is  startling  to  say  that  Congress  can  free  a  slave  within 
a  State,  and  yet  were  it  said  that  the  ownership  of  a  slave  had 
first  been  transferred  to  the  nation,  and  that  Congress  had  then 
liberated  him,  the  difficulty  would  vanish ;  and  this  is  the  real 
case.  The  traitor  against  the  General  Government  forfeits  his 
slave  at  least  as  justly  as  he  does  any  other  property,  and  he 
forfeits  both  to  the  Government  against  which  he  offends. 
The  Government,  so  far  as  there  can  be  ownership,  owns 
the  forfeited  slaves,  and  the  question  for  Congress  in  regard  to 
them  is,  shall  they  be  made  free  or  sold  to  new  masters?  I  see 
no  objection  to  Congress  deciding  in  advance  that  they  shall  be 
free. 

That  those  who  make  a  causeless  war  should  be  compelled  to 
pay  the  cost  of  it,  is  too  obviously  just  to  be  called  in  question. 
To  give  Government  protection  to  the  property  of  persons  who 
have  abandoned  it,  and  gone  on  a  crusade  to  overthrow  the 
same  Government,  is  absurd,  if  considered  in  the  mere  light  of 
justice.  The  severest  justice  may  not  always  be  the  best 
policy.  *  *  I  think  our  military  commanders,  when,  in 
military  phrase,  they  are  within  the  enemy's  country,  should,  in 
an  orderly  manner,  seize  and  keep  whatever  of  real  or  personal 
property  may  be  necessary  or  convenient  for  their  commands, 
and  at  the  same  time  preserve  in  some  way  the  evidence  of 
what  they  do. 


LITE   OP  ABE  AH  AM   LINCOLN.  817 

A  few  days  before  the  adjournment,  the  President,  evidently 
looking  forward  to  the  necessity  of  a  more  radical  and  decisive 
policy  in  regard  to  Slavery,  invited  the  Senators  and  Represen- 
tatives of  the  border  Slave  States  to  a  conference.  The  disas- 
trous Peninsular  campaign  was  now  over,  and  depression  pre- 
vailed throughout  the  country.  The  war  must  somehow  be 
ended,  with  the  rebellion  overthrown ;  and  the  employment  of 
every  effective  and  legitimate  war  measure,  he  felt  to  be  now 
demanded.  He  desired  the  great  change  to  come  as  lightly  as 
possible  on  the  still  loyal  Slave  States,  and  it  was  in  this  spirit 
that  the  interview  was  solicited  by  him.  Having  convened  at 
the  Executive  Mansion,  on  the  12th  of  July,  these  Represen- 
tatives were  addressed  by  Mr.  Lincoln  (reading  what  he  had 
carefully  prepared  for  the  occasion)  as  follows : 

GENTLEMEN  :  After  the  adjournment  of  Congress,  now  near, 
I  shall  have  no  opportunity  of  seeing  you  for  several  months. 
Believing  that  you  of  the  Border  States  hold  more  power  for 
good  than  any  other  equal  number  of  members,  I  feel  it  a 
duty  which  I  can  not  justifiably  waive  to  make  this  appeal  to 
you. 

I  intend  no  reproach  or  complaint  when  I  assure  you  that, 
in  my  opinion,  if  you  all  had  voted  for  the  resolution  in  the 
gradual  emancipation  message  of  last  March,  the  war  would 
now  be  substantially  ended.  And  the  plan  therein  proposed  is 
yet  one  of  the  most  potent  and  swift  means  of  ending  it.  Let 
the  States  which  are  in  rebellion  see  definitely  and  certainly 
that  in  no  event  will  the  States  you  represent  ever  join  their 
proposed  Confederacy,  and  they  can  not  much  longer  maintain 
the  contest.  But  you  can  not  divest  them  of  their  hope  to 
ultimately  have  you  with  them  so  long  as  you  show  a  deter- 
mination to  perpetuate  the  institution  within  your  own  States. 
Beat  them  at  elections,  as  you  have  overwhelmingly  done,  and, 
nothing  daunted,  they  still  claim  you  as  their  own.  You  and 
I  know  what  the  lever  of  their  power  is.  Break  that  lever  be- 
fore their  faces,  and  they  can  shake  you  no  more  forever. 

Most  of  you  have  treated  me  with  kindness  and  considera- 
tion, and  I  trust  you  will  not  now  think  I  improperly  touch 
what  is  exclusively  your  own,  when,  for  the  sake  of  the  whole 
country,  I  ask,  "  Can  you,  for  your  States,  do  better  than  to 
take  the  course  I  urge  ?"  Discarding  punctilio  and  maxims 
adapted  to  more  manageable  times,  and  looking  only  to  the 
unprecedentedly  stern  facts  of  our  case,  can  you  do  better  in 


318  ,UTE   OP   ABRAHAM    LINCOLN. 

any  possible  event?  You  prefer  that  the  constitutional  rela- 
tions of  the  States  to  the  nation  shall  be  practically  restored 
without  disturbance  of  the  institution  ;  and,  if  this  were  done, 
my  whole  duty  in  this  respect,  under  the  Constitution  and  my 
oath  of  office,  would  be  performed.  But  it  is  not  done,  and  we 
are  trying  to  accomplish  it  by  war.  The  incidents  of  the  war 
can  not  be  avoided.  If  the  war  continues  long,  as  it  must  if 
the  object  be  not  sooner  attained,  the  institution  in  your  States 
will  be  extinguished  by  mere  friction  and  abrasion — by  the 
mere  incidents  of  the  war.  It  will  be  gone,  and  you  will  have 
nothing  valuable  in  lieu  of  it.  Much  of  its  value  is  gone  al- 
ready. How  much  better  for  you  and  for  your  people  to  take 
the  step  which  at  once  shortens  the  war,  and  secures  substan- 
tial compensation  for  that  which  is  sure  to  be  wholly  lost  in 
any  other  event !  How  much  better  to  thus  save  the  money 
which  else  we  sink  forever  in  the  war!  How  much  better 
to  do  it  while  we  can,  lest  the  war,  ere  long,  render  us  pecun- 
iarily unable  to  do  it !  How  much  better  for  you,  as  seller, 
and  the  nation,  as  buyer,  to  sell  out  and  buy  out  that  without 
which  the  war  could  never  have  been,  than  to  sink  both  the 
thing  to  be  sold  and  the  price  of  it,  in  cutting  one  another's 
throats  ! 

I  do  not  speak  of  emancipation  at  once,  but  of  a  decision  at 
once  to  emancipate  gradually.  Room  in  South  America  for 
colonization  can  be  obtained  cheaply  and  in  abundance,  and 
when  numbers  shall  be  large  enough  to  be  company  and  en- 
couragement for  one  another,  the  freed  people  will  not  be  so 
reluctant  to  go. 

I  am  pressed  with  a  difficulty  not  yet  mentioned — one  which 
threatens  division  among  those  who,  united,  are  none  too 
strong.  An  instance  of  it  is  known  to  you.  General  Hunter 
is  an  honest  man.  He  was,  and  I  hope  still  is,  my  friend.  I 
valued  him  none  the  less  for  his  agreeing  with  me  in  the  gen- 
eral wish  that  all  men  every-where  could  be  freed.  He  pro- 
claimed all  men  free  within  certain  States,  and  I  repudiated 
the  proclamation.  He  expected  more  good  and  less  harm 
from  the  measure  than  I  could  believe  would  follow.  Yet,  in 
repudiating  it,  I  gave  dissatisfaction,  if  not  offense,  to  many 
whose  support  the  country  can  not  afford  to  lose.  And  this  is 
not  the  end  of  it.  The  pressure  in  this  direction  is  still  upon 
me,  and  is  increasing.  By  conceding  what  I  now  ask  you  can 
relieve  me,  and,  much  more,  can  relieve  the  country  in  this  im- 
portant point. 

Upon  these  considerations,  I  have  again  begged  your  atten- 
tion to  the  Message  of  March  last.  Before  leaving  the  Capitol, 
consider  and  discuss  it  among  yourselves.  You  are  patriots 


LIPE   OP   ABRAHAM   LINCOLN.  -         319 

and  statesmen,  and  as  such,  I  pray  you  consider  this  proposi- 
tion, and,  at  the  least,  commend  it  to  the  consideration  of  your 
States  and  people.  As  you  would  perpetuate  popular  govern- 
ment for  the  best  people  in  the  world,  I  beseech  you  that  you 
do  in  no  wise  omit  this.  Our  common  country  is  in  great 
peril,  demanding  the  loftiest  views  and  boldest  action  to  bring 
a  speedy  relief.  Once  relieved,  its  form  of  government  is 
saved  to  the  world ;  its  beloved  history  and  cherished  mem- 
ories are  vindicated,  and  its  happy  future  fully  assured  and 
rendered  inconceivably  grand.  To  you,  more  than  to  any 
others,  the  privilege  is  given  to  assure  that  happiness,  and 
swell  that  grandeur,  and  to  link  your  own  names  therewith 
forever. 

Twenty  of  the  Senators  and  ^Representatives  thus  addressed 
replied  in  respectful,  but  decidedly  unfavorable,  terms.  Nine 
only  made  friendly  and  approving  responses. 


320      -      .  LIFE   OP   ABRAHAM   LINCOLN. 


CHAPTER  VI. 

Military  Events. — Inaction  on  the  Potomac. — Western  Campaigns.-^ 
Capture  of  New  Orleans. 

THE  summary  of  political  events  in  the  preceding  chapter 
has  somewhat  outrun  the  course  of  military  operations.  Gen. 
McClellan,  as  General-in-chief  of  the  entire  army,  had  nom- 
inally assumed  control  alike  over  Gen.  Halleck,  command- 
ing in  the  Department  of  the  West,  over  Gen.  Burnside 
and  Gen.  T.  TV.  Sherman  in  North  and  South  Carolina,  and 
over  the  vast  Army  of  the  Potomac.  During  the  two  months 
succeeding  the  retirement  of  Lieut.  Gen.  Scott,  every  day's 
delay,  while  calm  skies  and  dry  roads  invited  to  action,  added 
new  weight  to  the  impatience  of  the  people.  But  at  length 
wintry  weather  put  an  end  to  all  immediate  hope  of  action. 
Opinions  as  to  the  General-in-chief  were  divided.  Ready 
excuses  on  the  part  of  those  immediately  about  him  as 
to  still  needed  preparations,  and  lavish  promises  as  to  results 
when  the  time  of  action  should  come,  with  frequent  inti- 
mations of  an  early  movement,  satisfied  many  who  would 
otherwise  have  been  despondent.  To  the  President  himself, 
Gen.  McClellan,  while  reticent  as  to  details,  preserved  an 
air  of  earnest  determination,  and  held  out  the  prospect  of 
effective  action  at  no  remote  day.  An  engagement  near 
Dranesville,  Md.,  under  Gen.  Ord,  favorable  to  our  arms,  yet 
unimportant  in  results,  had,  on  the  20th  of  December, 
awakened  only  to  disappoint  an  expiring  hope  of  some 
decisive  action  before  another  season.  Some  occasional  col- 
lisions between  detachments  of  the  opposing  armies  were  all 
that  occurred  in  the  Eastern  Departments  after  the  successful 
landing  of  the  Southern  expedition  until  the  opening  of  spring. 

The  contrast  between  this  inaction  in  the  East,  and  the  ener- 
getic and  decisive  movements  in  the  West  during  the  same  period, 
was  marked.  Neither  this  fact,  nor  the  customary  mode  of 


LIFE   OP    ABRAHAM   LINCOLN.  321 

stating  the  plan  of  the  General-in-chief — which  was  one  of  sim- 
ultaneous movement  on  all  sides — would  seem  consistent  with 
the  supposition  that  affairs  in  the  "West  were  under  any  real 
control  of  the  nominal  military  head  at  Washington.  Hia 
actual  relation  to  these  events  will  in  due  time  appear. 

Early  in  January,  Col.  Garfield  again  cleared  the  eastern 
border  of  Kentucky  of  Rebels,  defeating  an  invading  force 
under  Humphrey  Marshall,  at  Middle  Creek,  near  Prestonburg, 
on  the  10th.  Gen.  George  B.  Crittenden,  at  the  head  of 
another  Rebel  force,  about  12,000  strong,  had  issued  his 
proclamation  to  the  people  of  Kentucky  on  the  6th,  from  his 
headquarters  at  Mill  Spring,  a  point  near  the  south  bank  of 
the  Tennessee  river,  where  that  stream,  making  a  wide  sweep, 
bends  farthest  northward  into  the  State.  It  was  in  this  vicin- 
ity that  a  brilliant  victory  was  gained  on  the  19th  of  January, 
by  our  forces  under  command  of  Gen.  George  H.  Thomas. 
This  achievement,  utterly  routing  the  rebel  force,  with  severe 
loss,  including  that  of  Gen.  Zollicoffer,  killed,  and  penetrating 
the  extended  line  of  the  Rebels  opposed  to  Gen.  Buell,  was 
hailed  as  the  promise  of  more  stirring  days.  On  the  occasion 
of  receiving  this  news,  the  Secretary  of  War  issued  the  follow- 
ing order : 

WAR  DEPARTMENT,  January  22,  1862. 

The  President,  Commander-in-chief  of  the  Army  and  Navy, 
has  received  information  of  a  brilliant  victory  achieved  by  the 
United  States  forces  over  a  large  body  of  armed  traitors  and 
rebels  at  Mill  Spring,  in  the  State  of  Kentucky. 

He  returns  thanks  to  the  gallant  officers  and  soldiers  who 
won  that  victory,  and  when  the  official  reports  shall  be  received, 
the  military  skill  and  personal  valor  displayed  in  battle  will  be 
acknowledged  and  rewarded  in  a  fitting  manner. 

The  courage  that  encountered  and  vanquished  the  greatly 
superior  numbers  of  the  Rebel  force,  pursued  and  attacked  them 
in  their  intrenchments,  and  paused  not  until  the  enemy  was 
completely  routed,  merits  and  receives  commendation. 

The  purpose  of  this  war  is  to  attack,  pursue  and  destroy  a 
rebellious  enemy,  and  to  deliver  the  country  from  danger  men- 
aced by  traitors.  Alacrity,  daring,  courageous  spirit  and  patri- 
otic zeal,  on  all  occasions  and  under  every  circumstance,  are 
expected  from  the  Army  of  the  United  States. 


322  LITE   OP   ABRAHAM    LINCOLN. 

In  the  prompt  and  spirited  movements  and  daring  battle  of 
Mill  Spring,  the  nation  will  realize  its  hopes,  and  the  people 
of  the  United  States  will  rejoice  to  honor  every  soldier  and 
officer  who  proves  his  courage  by  charging  with  the  bayonet 
and  storming  intrenchments,  or  in  the  blaze  of  the  enemy's 
fire. 

By  order  of  the  President. 

EDWIN  M.  STANTON, 

Secretary  of  War. 

These  words  of  cheer,  following  acts  so  successful,  reassured 
despondent  hearts,  and  turned  all  eyes  toward  new  scenes  of 
hope. 

The  Rebel  line  from  Columbus,  on  the  Mississippi,  to  Bowl- 
ing Green,  on  Green  river,  as  will  be  seen  from  a  map  of  that 
region,  was  penetrated  by  the  Cumberland  and  Tennessee 
rivers,  running  in  a  northerly  and  nearly  parallel  direction, 
about  ten  miles  apart,  from  the  boundary  between  Kentucky 
and  Tennessee,  into  the  Ohio  river,  cutting  off  a  triangle  com- 
prising seven  or  eight  counties  in  the  south-western  part  of  the 
former  State.  To  secure  their  line  against  the  gunboats,  which 
were  now  making  their  appearance  on  the  Western  rivers,  the 
Rebels  had  constructed  a  fort  near  the  State  line,  on  the  Ten- 
nessee, in  the  immediate  vicinity  of  Panther  Island,  called 
Fort  Henry.  At  a  point  nearly  on  the  same  parallel,  on  the 
Cumberland,  eastward,  near  Dover,  in  Tennessee,  was  another 
work  named  Fort  Donelson.  These  points  are  about  ninety 
miles  distant  from  the  mouths  of  the  respective  rivers. 

Gen.  Grant,  almost  simultaneously  with  the  movement  on 
Mill  Spring,  had  planned  an  attack  on  Fort  Henry,  with  a 
cooperating  gunboat  fleet  under  Com.  Foote.  This  movement 
was  authorized  by  Gen.  Halleck,  there  being  signs  of  intended 
reinforcements  to  the  rebel  left.  Although  the  roads  were  in 
very  bad  condition,  and  movements  of  infantry  and  artillery 
were  difficult,  the  high  water  in  the  Tennessee  was  specially 
favorable  for  the  execution  of  that  portion  of  the  movement 
under  the  charge  of  Com.  Foote. 

On  the  6th  of  February,  the  gunboats  Essex,  Carondelet, 
Cincinnati,  St.  Louis,  Conestoga,  Tyler  and  Lexington, 
advanced  to  the  attack  on  Fort  Henry,  opening  a  rapid  and 


LIFE   OF   ABRAHAM   LINCOLN.  323 

heavy  fire,  replied  to  by  the  guns  of  the  fort.  After  an  hour 
and  a  quarter  the  latter  were  silenced,  the  fort  was  surrendered, 
and  Gen.  Tilghman,  with  his  staff  and  sixty  men,  gave  them- 
selves up  as  prisoners.  The  remainder  of  the  garrison  escaped, 
the  force  sent  forward  by  Grant,  under  Gen.  McClernand, 
owing  to  the  state  of  the  roads  or  other  causes,  not  -having 
arrived  in  season  to  participate  in  the  action.  This  engage- 
ment first  thoroughly  tested  the  gunboats,  and  proved  their 
great  value. 

Gen.  Grant  lost  no  time  in  dispatching  about  15,000  men 
from  Fort  Henry,  to  invest  Fort  Donelson.  The  gunboats, 
meanwhile,  had  returned  to  the  mouth  of  the  Tennessee,  and 
made  their  way  tip  the  Cumberland,  together  with  sixteen 
transports  loaded  with  fresh  troops,  arriving  on  the  14th.  The 
three  divisions  engaged  were  under  the  command  of  Gens.  C. 
F.  Smith,  McClernand,  and  Lewis  Wallace.  The  infantry  and 
batteries  having  taken  position,  the  gunboats  opened  fire  on  the 
fort  at  about  two  o'clock  on  that  day,  with  less  decisive  effect 
than  at  Fort  Henry.  The  St.  Louis  became  seriously  disabled, 
and  Gen.  Grant,  making  a  complete  investment  of  the  fort, 
and  strengthening  his  position,  was  designing  to  wait  for 
the  gunboats  to  renew  the  attack.  On  the  following  morning, 
however,  the  enemy  within  the  fort,  lately  heavily  reenforced, 
attacked  our  extreme  right,  tinder  McClernand,  which  rested 
on  Dover,  and  brought  on  a  general  and  severe  engagement, 
which  had  apparently  almost  resulted  in  a  disastrous  repulse  of 
our  forces.  The  right  was  seasonably  reenforced,  and  after  a 
hardly  contested  fight,  lasting  until  dark,  in  which  both  sides 
suffered  heavily,  the  Rebels  were  driven  back  within  their  forti- 
fications. Early  on  the  morning  of  the  16th,  a  white  flag  was 
raised  by  the  Rebel  Gen.  Buckner,  asking  an  armistice  for  the 
purpose  of  agreeing  upon  terms  of  capitulation.  In  reply, 
Gen.  Grant  sent  the  following  memorable  note  : 

HEADQUARTERS  ON  THE  FIELD,  FORT  DONELSON,     ") 
February  16,  1862.  } 

To  GEN.  S.  B.  BUCKNER — Sir:  Yours  of  this  date,  pro- 
posing an  armistice  and  the  appointment  of  commissioners  to 


324  LIFE   OF   ABRAHAM   LINCOLN. 

settle  on  the  terms  of  capitulation,  is  just  received.     No  terms, 
except  unconditional  and  immediate  surrender,  can  be  accepted. 
I  propose  to  move  immediately  on  your  works. 

I  am,  very  respectfully,  your  obedient  servant, 
U.  S.  GRANT, 
Brigadier  General  Commanding. 

Gens.  Floyd  and  Pillow,  with  a  portion  of  the  Rebel  force, 
had  escaped  during  the  night.  Gen.  Buckner,  and  about 
15,000  men,  were  unconditionally  surrendered  as  prisoners  of 
war,  and  20,000  stand  of  arms,  with  a  large  amount  of  stores, 
fell  into  the  hands  of  Gen.  Grant.  A  victory  so  complete  and 
substantial  was  hailed  with  joy  by  the  Government  and 
by  loyal  men  every-where,  and  gave  its  hero  at  once  a  promi- 
nent place  in  the  hearts  of  the  people. 

Finding  his  right  and  left  flanks  thus  completely  turned  by 
Thomas  and  Grant,  the  enemy  evacuated  Bowling  Green  on  the 
15th,  rapidly  falling  back  south  of  the  Cumberland  river. 
Clarksville  and  Nashville,  Tenn.,  were  promptly  occupied  by 
our  forces.  This  succession  of  triumphs,  exciting  grateful 
enthusiasm  throughout  the  loyal  portion  of  the  nation,  caused 
a  corresponding  humiliation  and  despondency  in  the  Rebel 
States.  The  border  line  of  the  Rebellion,  in  the  West, 
this  side  of  the  Mississippi,  was  thereby  contracted  a  long  dis- 
tance southward,  leaving  Kentucky  free,  and  promising  a 
speedy  restoration  of  Tennessee  under  loyal  sway. 

The  forts  on  Roanoke  Island,  on  the  coast  of  North  Car- 
olina, were  captured  by  a  joint  expedition  under  Gen.  Burnside 
and  Com.  Goldsborough,  on  the  8th  of  February,  after  two 
days'  fighting,  in  which  the  losses  were  comparatively  small. 
Over  two  thousand  prisoners,  forty  guns,  and  three  thousand 
small  arms,  were  captured. 

In  Missouri,  Gen.  Price  had  fallen  back  from  point  to  point, 
on  the  approach  of  our  forces  under  Gen.  Curtis.  He  finally 
retired  from  the  State,  taking  up  his  headquarters  at  Cross 
Hollows,  in  Arkansas,  during  the  latter  part  of  February.  On 
the  23d  of  that  month  Gen.  Curtis  had  advanced  in  pursuit,  as 
far  as  Fayetteville,  Ark.,  on  the  White  river,  in  the  north- 
western part  of  that  State. 


LIFE    OP   ABRAHAM  .LINCOLN.  325 

The  evacuation  of  Columbus,  Kentucky,  on  the  27th  of 
February,  as  a  necessary  result  of  Grant's  capture  of  Fort 
Donelson,  and  the  dispersion  of  the  main  force  of  the  Kebels 
in  Missouri,  invited  the  attempt  to  repossess  the  Mississippi, 
hitherto  blockaded  by  the  Rebels.  The  importance  of  this 
possession,  not  alone  for  its  commercial  consequence  to  the 
North-west,  but  also  from  military  considerations,  was  too  ob- 
vious to  escape  the  notice  of  a  Western  President.  Three  Il- 
linois regiments  occupied  Columbus  on  the  3d  of  March,  a 
gunboat  fleet  having  accompanied  the  transports  which  con- 
veyed this  force.  On  the  same  day,  an  engagement,  indecisive 
in  its  results,  was  fought  by  forces  under  Gen.  Pope,  with 
Rebels,  under  Gen.  Jeff.  Thompson,  near  New  Madrid.  It 
soon  became  evident  that,  in  retreating  from  Columbus,  the 
Rebels  had  occupied  Island  Number  Ten,  in  the  Mississippi 
river,  several  miles  below,  and  a  little  distance  above  New 
Madrid.  This  was  the  beginning  of  the  memorable  siege  of 
that  place,  ultimately  captured,  with  a  large  number  of  prison- 
ers and  valuable  property,  on  the  8th  day  of  April. 

On  the  6th,  7th  and  8th  of  March  was  fought  one  of  the 
most  important  engagements  of  the  war  at  Pea  Ridge,  in  Ar- 
kansas, near  the  Missouri  line.  Gen.  Curtis,  as  already 
seen,  had  driven  the  Rebels  across  the  Missouri  border,  and 
had  occupied  Fayetteville,  Arkansas,  on  the  23d  of  February, 
the  opposing  forces  retiring  beyond  the  Boston  Mountains, 
which  divide  the  valley  of  White  river,  on  the  north,  from 
that  of  the  Arkansas  river,  in  the  center  of  the  State.  Cur- 
tis soon  after  withdrew  toward  Missouri,  his  main  force  being 
concentrated  at  a  place  called  Sugar-creek  Hollow,  with  a  rear 
guard,  under  Gen.  Sigel,  at  Bentonville. 

The  forces  under  Gen.  Curtis  comprised  four  divisions — 
the  First  under  command  of  Col.  Osterhaus,  the  Second 
under  Gen.  Asboth,  the  Third  under  Col.  Jeff.  C.  Da- 
vis, and  the  Fourth  led  by  Col.  Carr.  The  Rebel  forces 
were  now  united  under  Gen.  Earl  Van  Dorn,  who  had  as- 
sumed command  of  the  Trans-Mississippi  Department,  with 
his  headquarters  at  Little  Rock,  on  the  29th  of  January. 
There  were  under  him  in  this  engagement  probably  ten  thou- 


326  LIFE   OP   ABRAHAM    LINCOLN. 

eand  Missouri  troops,  under  Gen.  Price;  from  twelve  to 
fifteen  thousand  men  from  Arkansas,-  Louisiana  and  Texas, 
under  Glen.  McCulloch,  and  about  five  or  six  thousand 
Choctaw,  Cherokee,  Chickasaw  and  other  Indians,  with  two 
white  regiments — in  all  about  seven  thousand — under  Albert 
Pike.  .  One  Rebel  account  states  that  Van  Dora's  force  in  this 
expedition  was  reckoned  as  high  as  thirty-five  thousand.  The 
Union  force  did  not  much  exceed  one-third  of  that  number. 

Confident  in  their  numerical  strength,  and  believing,  as  they 
admitted,  that  their  force  was  at  least  double  that  under  Cur- 
tis, the  Rebels  advanced  with  the  hope  of  annihilating  our 
army.  Coming  up  with  Sigel's  force  at  Bentonville,  on  the 
morning  of  the  6th  of  March,  they  compelled  that  General  to 
fall  back  toward  the  main  army — a  movement  which  he  ex- 
ecuted with  scarcely  any  loss,  having  sent  forward  his  trains, 
while  a  well-managed  battery  protected  his  retreat,  inflicting 
severe  injury  upon  the  enemy  whenever  he  approached  within 
shelling  distance.  A  march  of  ten  miles  brought  Sigel's  force 
to  the  west  end  of  Pea  Ridge,  a  range  of  high  ground  just 
beyond  Sugar  Creek,  where  the  main  army  of  Curtis  lay.  It 
was  now  night,  and  Curtis,  who  had  all  day  been  busily  pre- 
paring to  meet  the  enemy,  made  his  disposition  for  the  event- 
ful morrow.  His  force  in  the  hollow  had  fronted  to  the  south, 
and  Sigel,  with  Osterhaus'  division,  now  occupied  a  position 
about  three  miles  to  the  west.  The  Rebel  forces  crossed  the 
creek  still  further  west,  and  occupied  the  higher  ground  north- 
ward and  directly  in  the  rear,  his  two  main  bodies  also  sepa- 
rated by  about  three  miles  distance — the  troops  under  Price 
opposite  Curtis,  and  those  under  McCulloch  and  Mclntosh 
over  against  Sigel.  A  change  of  front  was  promptly  made, 
bringing  the  armies  face  to  face — Curtis  commanding  the 
right,  now  moved  to  higher  ground  two  miles  northward,  and 
Sigel  the  left. 

The  enemy  attacked  our  right  on  the  morning  of  the  7th, 
and  the  battle  was  fiercely  maintained  throughout  the  day, 
with  severe  loss  on  both  sides.  The  area  fought  over  did  not 
exceed  three-fourths  of  a  mile  in  diameter.  Our  right  was 
finally  driven  back  for  nearly  a  mile,  the  enemy  encamping  on 


LIFE   OF   ABRAHAM   LINCOLN.  327 

the  field  they  had  thus  won.  McCulloch,  meanwhile,  on  the 
left,  had  in  the  morning  begun  a  movement  south-eastwardly, 
to  form  a  junction  with  Price,  so  as  to  surround  Curtis,  and 
cut  off  all  retreat.  Sigel  endeavored  to  check  this  detected 
movement  by  sending  forward  three  pieces  of  flying  artillery, 
with  a  cavalry  support,  to  delay  McCulloch's  advance  until 
his  infantry  could  come  up.  An  overwhelming  force  of  Rebel 
cavalry  bore  down  upon  this  detachment,  dispersing  it  and 
capturing  our  guns,  while  McCulloch's  infantry  gained  shelter 
in  a  wood  beyond  a  large  open  field.  This  wood  and  field  be- 
came the  scene  of  a  prolonged  contest  between  Osterhaus  and 
McCulloch.  The  timely  arrival  of  Davis  with  reinforcements 
turned  the  tide,  and  the  enemy  was  utterly  routed,  with  heavy 
loss,  McCulloch  and  Mclntosh  being  among  the  killed. 

The  position  which  had  been  gained  by  Van  Dora's  left  was 
naturally  a  strong  one,  cutting  off  our  retreat,  and  here  he 
concentrated  his  entire  forces.  On  that  chilly  night  the  men 
of  Curtis'  army,  looking  forward  to  the  coming  day,  might  well 
have  been  disheartened.  Their  ultimate  defeat  must  have 
seemed  almost  certain.  With  sunrise  the  batteries  of  Price 
reopened,  an4  with  terrible  effect  on  the  extreme  right,  held 
by  Carr's  division,  and  now  supported  by  Davis.  The  position 
of  the  enemy  being  clearly  disclosed,  Sigel,  with  quick  insight 
and  prompt  action,  skillfully  disposed  his  batteries  so  as  to 
bear  directly  in  the  face  of  the  enemy's  right,  causing  great 
destruction  to  the  latter,  with  little  loss  to  himself.  His  thirty 
pieces  silenced  buttery  after  battery  of  the  enemy,  making  ter- 
rible havoc.  For  more  than  two  hours,  with  admirable  tact  and 
unslackencd  activity,  this  cannonading  was  kept  up,  batteries 
and  infantry  approaching  nearer  and  nearer  the  concentrated 
foe,  until  at  length  Curtis  ordered  his  infantry  to  charge  the 
enemy  in  his  last  shelter  of  the  woods,  and,  after  a  short  but 
deadly  struggle,  the  Rebel  forces  gave  way  and  scattered  in 
confusion  and  utter  rout.  The  total  loss  of  Curtis,  mostly  on 
the  7th,  is  stated  at  1,312  in  killed,  wounded  and  missing. 
The  losses  of  Van  Dora  were  manifestly  much  greater,  but 
they  are  not  accurately  known. 

With  this  victory,  followed  six  days  later  by  the  capture  of 


328  LIFE  OP  ABRAHAM  LINCOLN. 

New  Madrid  by  Gen.  Pope,  the  conflict  in  Missouri  was  sub- 
stantially brought  to  an  end.  The  war  was  now  transferred 
into  Arkansas,  and  from  a  contest  on  the  part  of  the  Rebels  to 
force  an  unwilling  people  into  fellowship  with  a  confederacy  of 
traitors,  it  had  now  become  a  movement  of  the  Union  armies — 
ere  long  to  prove  successful — for  restoring  peace,  order  and 
law,  under  the  constitutional  Government,  in  a  State  tempora- 
rily overborne  by  the  tide  of  Secessionism. 

Soon  after  the  occupation  of  Nashville,  on  the  25th  of  Feb- 
ruary, Gen.  Buell  concentrated  his  army,  for  the  most  part,  at 
and  near  that  city.  On  the  llth  of  March,  an  order  of  the 
President  placed  the  forces  of  Gens.  Hal  leek,  Hunter  and 
Buell,  under  the  chief  command  of  Halleck  alone,  consolida- 
ting in  one  the  respective  departments  of  the  two  first-named 
commanders,  together  with  so  much  of  that  of  Gen.  Buell  "  as 
lies  west  of  a  north  and  south  line  indefinitely  drawn  through 
Knoxville,"  the  whole  to  be  called  the  Department  of  the  Mis- 
sissippi. The  troops  under  Buell  were  mostly  from  Ohio, 
Indiana  and  Kentucky.  Among  his  Generals  commanding 
divisions  were  A.  McD.  McCook,  George  H.  Thomas,  Ormsby 
M.  Mitchell,  Wm.  Nelson  and  Thos.  L.  Crittenden. 

An  expedition  under  Gen.  Grant  was  speedily  organized,  to 
proceed  up  the  Tennessee  river,  the  enemy  having  taken  up 
his  defensive  line  with  the  Charleston  and  Memphis  Rail- 
road as  a  base.  Grant's  new  "  Army  of  the  Tennessee,"  was 
mainly  composed  of  troops  from  Illinois,  Ohio,  Indiana  and 
Iowa,  with  regiments  from  several  other  States.  Numerous 
steamboats  were  employed  for  the  transportation  of  these 
forces,  which  were  accompanied  by  two  gunboats.  The  divi- 
sions into  which  Grant's  army  was  organized,  each  with  its 
proportion  of  infantry,  cavalry  and  artillery,  were  commanded, 
respectively,  by  Gens.  W.  T.  Sherman,  C.  F.  Smith,  B.  M. 
Prentiss,  S.  A.  Hurlbut,  J.  A.  McClernand  and  L.  Wallace. 

On  the  5th  of  March,  Gen.  Beauregard,  having  tarried 
awhile  at  Richmond,  after  leaving  Centreville  about  the  1st  of 
February,  assumed  command  of  the  Rebel  "  Army  of  the  Mis- 
sissippi," with  his  headquarters  first  at  Jackson,  Tenn.,  on  the 
Mobile  and  Ohio  Railroad.  The  Rebel  forces,  under  the  sub- 


LIFE  OF  ABRAHAM  LINCOLN.  329 

ordinate  commands  of  Bragg,  Polk,  Cheatham,  and  others, 
were  chiefly  in  camp  at  Corinth,  Miss.,  with  detachments  at 
several  points  on  the  railroads.  This  place  is  at  the  junction 
of  the  Mobile  and  Ohio  and  the  Memphis  and  Charleston  Rail- 
roads, in  an  uneven  country,  and  not  far  from  the  line  dividing 
the  States  of  Tennessee  and  Mississippi. 

Gen.  Grant  landed  his  forces  at  Savannah,  Tenn.,  a  small 
place  on  the  Tennessee  river,  about  one  hundred  and  seventy 
miles  above  Fort  Henry,  and  about  twenty-five  miles  from  the 
Mississippi  State  line.  His  original  force  was  increased  by  a 
considerable  body  of  infantry  from  Ohio.  As  many  as  eighty- 
two  steamers,  laden  with  troops,  had  arrived  at  Savannah  by 
the  13th  of  March.  These  "  invaders "  were  received  with 
enthusiastic  demonstrations  of  joy  by  the  inhabitants  of  that 
part  of  Tennessee  through  which  they  passed. 

Soon  after  the  arrival  of  Gen.  Grant  in  person,  the  army 
was  advanced  seven  miles  up  the  river  to  Pittsburg  Landing. 
Gen.  Buell  was  ordered  by  Halleck  to  effect  a  junction  with 
Grant.  Little  alacrity,  however,  was  shown  by  Buell  in  com- 
plying with  this  order,  so  manifestly  requiring  prompt  execu- 
tion in  view  of  the  greatly  superior  Rebel  force  known  to  be  in 
front  of  Grant.  It  was  not  until  the  28th  of  March  that  Buell 
left  Nashville.  On  the  30th,  the  rear  of  his  army  was  at 
Columbia,  but  eighty-two  miles  distant  from  Savannah.  This 
distance  was  passed  over  by  leisurely  marches,  averaging  less 
than  twelve  miles  a  day,  while  Beauregard  was  putting  in  exe- 
cution his  well-devised  plan  for  attacking  Grant  in  overwhelm- 
ing force  before  Buell  should  come  to  his  support. 

On  the  3d  of  April,  Gen.  Johnston  issued  a  brief  address  to 
the  Army  of  the  Mississippi,  to  inspirit  them  in  executing  the 
purpose  formed,  "to  offer  battle  to  the  invaders,"  and  the 
Rebel  forces  were  put  in  motion  toward  Pittsburg  Landing. 
Orders  .were  at  the  same  time  issued,  dividing  the  army  into 
three  corps,  the  first  to  be  commanded  by  Polk,  the  second  by 
Bragg,  and  the  third  by  Hardee.  John  C.  Breckinridge  was 
given  the  command  of  a  reserve  division.  The  chief  command 
seems  to  have  been  jointly  held  by  Johnston  and  Beauregard, 
until  the  former  fell,  early  during  the  first  day's  engagement. 
-  28 


330  LIFE  OF  ABRAHAM  LINCOLN. 

Before  six  o'clock  on  the  morning  of  Sunday,  the  6th  day 
of  April,  a  party  of  the  Kebels  attacked  Grant's  left — that  offi- 
cer being  then  absent  at  Savannah,  superintending  prepara- 
tions  for  receiving  and  crossing  over  the  anxiously-expected 
forces  of  Buell.  At  eight  o'clock  the  enemy  advanced  in 
strong  force,  and  captured  Gen.  Prentiss,  with  two  thousand 
prisoners.  Hurlbut  came  to  the  support  of  the  retreating  di- 
vision of  Prentiss,  and  temporarily  checked  the  enemy's  ad- 
vance. Part  of  Sherman's  force,  on  the  right  of  Prentiss,  was 
routed,  and  a  heavy  column  was  thrown  against  McClernand's 
division  in  the  center,  which,  before  noon,  was  driven  back- 
ward to  the  line  of  Hurlbut.  The  fight  was  bravely  main- 
tained, and  the  force  attacking  McClernand  was  once  tempora- 
rily driven  back  for  some  distance ;  but  the  whole  of  our 
army  was  compelled  gradually  to  give  way.  Only  the  most 
invincible  courage  of  the  men,  with  cool  and  determined  lead- 
ership, could  save  the  army  now  from  utter  defeat.  The  divi- 
sion commanded  by  Gen.  W.  H.  L.  Wallace,  (in  the  absence 
of  Gen.  C.  F.  Smith,)  on  the  right,  had,  with  that  of  Hurlbut 
on  the  left,  occupied  positions  next  the  river,  and  on  these, 
with  one  of  Sherman's  brigades  on  the  extreme  left,  now  fell 
the  weight  of  the  Rebel  advance.  Four  times  attempts  were 
made  by  the  Rebels  to  charge  on  the  gallant  forces  of  Wal- 
lace, but. each  time  volleys  of  musketry  and  the  fire  of  well-- 
directed artillery,  drove  back  the  assailants  with  terrible 
slaughter.  Hurlbut's  division  was  driven  back,  at  length,  from 
its  camp  to  the  shelter  of  woods  beyond.  Here,  with  their 
raking  fire  across  the  open  fields,  they  three  times  repulsed  the 
advancing  enemy.  The  right  of  this  division  was  further  sup- 
ported by  forces  rallied  from  the  broken  divisions.  Mean- 
while Gen.  L.  Wallace,  who  was  at  Crump's  Landing,  five  miles 
.below,  was  anxiously  looked  for,  in  the  overwhelming  odds 
against  the  remaining  divisions,  but  unfortunately,  though  or- 
dered up,  he  failed  to  reach  the  scene  of  action  until  nightfall. 

Finally,  Hurlbut's  division  was  compelled  to  retire,  and  at 
length  that  of  Wallace,  who  fell,  mortally  wounded.  The 
whole  army  was  now  compressed  into  a  comparatively  small 
area,  near  the  Landing  ;  many  guns  had  been  lost ;  thousands 


LIFE  OP  ABRAHAM  LINCOLN.  331 

of  prisoners  taken ;  and  one  more  determined  attack  seemed 
sufficient  to  drive  the  men  pell-mell  into  the  river,  adequate 
means  for  transporting  them  across-  the  river  being  wanting. 
Now  it  was  that  the  field  batteries  were  collected  and  skillfully 
put  in  position,  by  Col.  Webster,  Grant's  Chief  of  Artillery, 
preparatory  to  the  expected  onset.  The  Eebel  advance  drew 
the  destructive  fire  of  twenty-two  guns,  with  that  of  the  two 
gunboats  at  the  mouth  of  Lick  Creek.  Staggered  by  this  ter- 
rible hail,  the  enemy  were  kept  in  check  until  night  closed 
upon  the  bloody  field. 

Beauregard  joyously  announced  to  his  superiors  at  Rich- 
mond "  a  complete  victory,"  with  "  the  loss  on  both  sides 
heavy,  including  our  commander-in-chief,  Albert  Sidney  John- 
ston, who  fell  gallantly  leading  his  troops  into  the  thickest  of 
the  fight."  As  the  vaunting  author  of  this  dispatch  soon 
learned,  however,  to  his  cost,  the  announcement  of  victory  was 
premature.  Another  day  entirely  changed  the  face  of  events. 

Before  the  conflict  of  Sunday  had  fairly  closed,  Gen.  Nel- 
son's division  of  Buell's  army  appeared  on  the  opposite  side  of 
the  river,  and  both  those  officers  in  person.  During  the  night, 
the  divisions  of  Crittenden  and  McCook  also  arrived ;  while 
Gen.  L.  Wallace,  of  Grant's  army, -took  position,  about  one 
o'clock  in  the  morning,  on  the  extreme  right. 

Thus  reenforced,  Grant  assumed  the  offensive,  ordering  an 
advance  at  dawn.  The  enemy  was  now  forced  back,  from 
point  to  point,  all  along  his  line,  the  fight  continuing  without 
intermission  from  nine  o'clock  in  the  morning  until  five  in  the 
evening.  At  the  latter  hour  the  whole  field  had  been  regained, 
and  the  defeated  Rebels  put  to  flight.  Our  troops  were  too 
weary  with  the  two  days'  hard  conflict  to  make  an  effective 
pursuit.  On  the  next  day,  Gen.  Beauregard  sent  a  flag  of 
truce  from  his  headquarters  at  Monterey,  asking  "  permission 
to  send  a  mounted  party  to  the  battle-field  of  Shiloh,  for 
the  purpose  of  giving  decent  interment "  to  his  dead.  To 
this  Gen.  Grant  replied,  on  the  9th,  saying  that,  owing  to  the 
warmth  of  the  weather,  he  had  deemed  it  advisable  to  have  all 
the  dead  of  both  parties  buried  immediately,  and  that  this  was 
"now  accomplished." 


332  LIFE   OF   ABRAHAM   LINCOLN. 

Gen.  Grant  estimated  his  loss  in  killed  and  wounded 
at  5,000.  There  was  the  further  loss  of  about  3,000  prisoners 
taken  on  Sunday,  making  a  total  of  8,000.  Gen.  Beauregard, 
in  his  official  report,  conceded  a  Rebel  loss  of  1,728  killed, 
8,012  wounded,  and  959  missing — an  aggregate  of  10,699. 

The  numbers  engaged  under  Gen.  Grant,  on  the  first  day, 
were  about  40,000,  many  of  whom  were  raw  troops  but  recently 
arrived.  Nearly  30,000  fresh  troops  participated  in  the  battle 
on  the  7th.  The  Rebel  force,  consisting  of  three  entire  army 
corps,  and  a  reserve  division,  may  be  estimated  at  not  far  from 
70,000. 

Gen.  Halleck  soon  after  took  the  field  in  person,  and  pre- 
pared for  an  advance  on  the  enemy's  stronghold  at  Corinth,  to 
which  place  Beauregard  retired  with  his  army,  directly  after 
the  defeat  at  Shiloh. 

On  the  22d  of  March,  the  President  constituted  two  new 
military  departments — the  first  called  the  Department  of  the 
-Gulf,  comprising  all  the  coast  of  the  Gulf  of  Mexico  west  of 
Pensacola  harbor,  and  so  much  of  the  Gulf  States  as  should 
be  occupied  by  the  commander,  Maj.  Gen.  B.  F.  Butler ;  and 
the  second,  including  the  States  of  South  Carolina,  Georgia 
and  Florida,  with  the  forces  heretofore  under  Gen.  T.  W. 
Sherman,  to  be  under  the  command  of  Maj.  Gen.  David 
Hunter. 

A  joint  expedition  under  Com.  Farragut  and  Gen.  Butler, 
to  capture  and  occupy  New  Orleans,  and  to  cooperate  thence 
with  the  movements  from  Cairo  downward  to  reopen  the 
Mississippi  river,  had  been  organized  in  the  autumn  of  1861. 
Gen.  Butler's  forces  were  to  rendezvous  at  Ship  Island,  for 
which  place  the  command  of  Gen.  Phelps  sailed  from  Fortress 
Monroe  on  the  27th  of  November,  arriving  on  the  3d  of  De- 
cember. During  this  latter  month,  two  gunboats  of  Farragut 
had  some  skirmishing  with  Rebel  gunboats  in  Mississippi 
Sound ;  and  in  January  another  considerable  installment  of 
Butler's  force  arrived  at  Ship  Island.  A  mortar  fleet,  under 
Com.  D.  D.  Porter,  was  also  added  to  the  naval  portion  of  the 
expedition.  Com.  Farragut  left  Hampton  Roads  in  the 
steamer  Hartford,  on  the  3d  of  February,  to  assume  command 


LIFE  OF   ABRAHAM  LINCOLN.  333 

of  the  squadron  which  was  to  operate  against  New  Orleans,  and 
arrived  at  Ship  Island  on  the  20th.  The  chief  obstacles  to  his 
intended  advance,  after  crossing  the  bar,  were  Forts  St.  Philip 
and  Jackson,  on  the  Mississippi  river,  seventy-five  miles 
below  New  Orleans.  These  works  were  so  formidable,  and  the 
preparations  to  receive  the  "Northern  armada"  so  thorough, 
that  the  Rebels  were  entirely  confident  of  success  in  repelling 
all  attacks.  That  part  of  Farragut's  fleet  which  crossed  the 
bar  consisted  of  the  steam  sloops  Hartford,  24  guns,  (flag 
ship);  Richmond,  26 ;  Pensacola,  24  ;  Brooklyn,  24 ;  Missis- 
sippi, 12  ;  Iroquois,  9  ;  Oneida,  9  ;  the  sailing  sloop-of-war 
Portsmouth,  17 ;  the  gunboats  Varuna,  12 ;  Cayuga,  9 ;  and 
eight  others  of  4  guns  each.  Com.  Porter's  mortar  fleet  con- 
sisted of  twenty  schooners,  mounting  one  large  mortar,  with 
two  small  guns,  and  was  accompanied  by  the  Harriet  Lane, 
(flag  ship,)  the  Miami,  and  three  other  steamers  carrying  five 
or  six  guns  each.  No  part  of  either  fleet  was  iron-clad. 
-  Much  time  was  consumed  in  getting  these  vessels  over  the 
bar  at  the  mouths  of  the  Mississippi.  The  bombardment 
commenced  on  the  18lh  of  April,  the  mortar  boats  leading, 
supported  by  the  gunboats,  which  made  occasional  approaches 
to  the  forts,  drawing  their  fire.  The  bombardment  con- 
tinued for  six  days  with  no  material  result  apparent,  except 
the  breaking  of  a  heavy  rifled  gun  on  Fort  St.  Philip.  By  a 
bold  movement,  begun  at  two  o'clock  on  the  morning  of  the 
24th,  a  portion  of  Farragut's  fleet,  after  a  gallant  fight,  suc- 
ceeded in  overcoming  all  obstructions  and  passing  the  forts. 
With  nine  of  his  vessels,  Com.  Farragut  appeared  before  New 
Orleans  on  the  25th.'  Forts  St.  Philip  and  Jackson  capitu- 
lated on  the  28th.  Gen.  Butler  was  at  hand  with  his  forces — 
the  Rebel  Gen.  Lovell  made  a  precipitate  retreat  into  the  inte- 
rior of  the  State,  and  the  city  was  surrendered,  Gen.  Butler 
taking  possession  on  the  1st  day  of  May. 

For  a  time,  the  cheering  and  substantial  results  recited 
in  this  chapter  were  claimed,  by  many,  as  triumphs  due 
to  a  "  grand  plan  "  of  the  young  General-in-chief ;  while  others 
as  confidently  pointed  out  their  inconsistency  with  an  alleged 
scheme  which  involved  "  thunder  around  the  whole  horizon," 


334  LIFE   OP   ABRAHAM   LINCOLN. 

when  once  the  spell  of  silence  should  be  broken.  Scarcely 
the  fain  test  echo,  in  fact,  unless  at  Roanoke  Island,  where  a  vic- 
tory had  been  gained  in  February,  responded  to  the  reverbera- 
tions at  Mill  Spring,  Fort  Henry,  Fort  Donelson,  Pea  Ridge, 
Shiloh  and  New  Orleans.  All  mystery  on  this  subject  was  dis- 
pelled by  the  subsequent  disclosure  that,  as  early  as  January, 
the  President  had  substantially  revoked  the  broader  authority 
given  to  a  dilatory  General-in-chief,  who  had  caused  the  Army 
of  the  Potomac  to  waste  in  idleness  six  months  that  had  been  ex- 
pected to  bring  forth  a  decisive  campaign,  and  who  had  opposed 
the  movements  so  brilliantly  executed  in  the  West,  as  well  as 
the  Southern  expeditions,  one  of  which  restored  New  Orleans  and 
the  passes  of  the  Mississippi  to  the  Government.  In  the  West 
and  Southwest,  we  have  seen  that  ample  results,  even  in  the 
worst  season  of  the  year,  followed  this  wise  policy  of  Mr.  Lin- 
coln. How  the  President's  order  for  active  movements  was 
carried  into  effect  by  the  commander  of  the  Army  of  the  Poto- 
mac, will  appear  in  the  pages  immediately  following. 


LIFE   OP   ABRAHAM   LINCOLN.  335 


CHAPTER  VII. 

Military  Events  in  the  East. — The  Peninsular  Campaign. 

THE  fortifications  around  Washington,  commenced  by  Gen. 
J.  G.  Barnard,  Chief  Engineer  under  McDowell,  and  contin- 
ued by  the  same  officer  under  McClellan,  had  been  essentially 
completed  before  the  close  of  September,  1861.  In  an  order 
issued  on  the  30th  of  that  month,  the  commanding  General 
designated  the  names  by  which  the  thirty-two  principal  works 
should  be  respectively  known.  From  this  time  onward  a  large 
portion  of  the  Army  of  the  Potomac  was  no  longer  needed  on 
merely  defensive  duty.  In  a  communication  addressed  to  the 
Secretary  of  War  in  the  latter  part  of  October,  Gen.  McClellan 
estimated  the  number  of  troops  required  for  the  protection  of 
Washington  at  35,000,  with  a  further  force  of  23,000,  to  be 
distributed  on  the  Upper  and  Lower  Potomac,  and  at  Bal- 
timore and  Annapolis.  The  main  purpose  of  this  vast  army, 
raised,  equipped  and  disciplined  at  such  a  cost,  was  manifestly 
something  quite  beyond  what  58,000  men  alone  amply  sufficed 
to  accomplish.  To  destroy  the  Rebel  army  before  Washing- 
ton, and  to  occupy  Richmond,  were,  in  the  minds  alike  of  mil- 
itary men  and  civilians,  the  prime  objects  to  be  effected  by  the 
Army  of  the  Potomac. 

October,  November,  December,  passed  without  result.  The 
commanding  General  admits  his  consciousness  of  the  anxiety 
no  less  of  the  people  than  of  the  President  for  active  operations 
during  these  pleasant  months,  on  the  part  of  an  army  sustained 
at  a  cost  of  millions  daily.  Gen.  McClellan's  official  statement 
gives  his  entire  force  on  the  1st  of  December  as  198,213,  of  whom 
169,452  were  present  for  duty,  and  on  the  first  of  January, 
1862,  as  219,707,  of  whom  191,480  were  "  effective."  After 
deducting  the  58,000  deemed  necessary  for  defensive  pur- 
poses— and  most  of  these  might  also  have  been  employed  in  a 
direct  movement  on  Manassas — there  thus  remained  an  effective 


336  LIFE   OP   ABRAHAM   LINCOLN. 

army  of  111,452  at  the  former  date,  and  of  133.480  at  the 
latter,  for  an  aggressive  movement.  Beauregard,  who  had  his 
headquarters  at  Centreville,  until  he  was  transferred  to  another 
command,  on  the  30th  of  January,  certainly  had  at  no  time  a 
force  in  McClellan's  front  exceeding  one-half  the  number  of  the 
Army  of  the  Potomac. 

Gen.  McClellan  records  no  surprising  fact,  therefore,  when 
he  states  that  "  about  the  middle  of  January,  1862,  upon 
recovering  from  a  severe  illness,"  he  "found  that  excessive 
anxiety  for  an  immediate  movement  of  the  Army  of  the  Poto- 
mac had  taken  possession  of  the  minds  of  the  Administration." 

More  than  six  months  having  elapsed  since  the  command  of 
this  army  had  devolved  upon  Gen.  McClellan,  without  the  de- 
velopment of  either  a  particular  plan  or  a  general  purpose  of 
attacking  the  enemy,  under  circumstances  the  most  favorable, 
and  an  unexpected  quiescence  having  followed  his  appoint- 
ment as  General-in-chief,  the  President  at  length  issued  hia 
"  General  War  Order,  No.  1,"  as  follows  : 

EXECUTIVE  MANSION,  WASHINGTON,     ") 
January  27,  1862.  j 

President's  General  War  Order,  No.  1.] 

ORDERED,  That  the  22d  day  of  February,  1862,  be  the  day 
for  a  general  movement  of  the  land  and  naval  forces  of  the 
United  States  against  the  insurgent  forces. 

That  especially  the  Army  at  and  about  Fortress  Monroe,  the 
Army  of  the  Potomac,  the  Army  of  Western  Virginia,  the* 
Army  near  Mumfordsville,  Kentucky,  the  Army  and  Flotilla  at 
Cairo,  and  a  Naval  force  in  the  Gulf  of  Mexico,  be  ready  for  a 
movement  on  that  day. 

That  all  other  forces,  both  land  and  naval,  with  their 
respective  commanders,  obey  existing  orders  for  the  time,  and 
be  ready  to  obey  additional  orders  when  duly  given. 

That  the  Heads  of  Departments,  and  especially  the  Secreta- 
ries of  War  and  of  the  Navy,  with  all  their  subordinates,  and 
the  General-in-chief,  with  all  other  commanders  and  subordi- 
nates of  land  and  naval  forces,  will  severally  be  held  to  their 
strict  and  full  responsibilities  for  the  prompt  execution  of  this 
order. 

ABRAHAM  LINCOLN. 

This  mandate,  communicated  to  high  officers  immediately 


LIFE   OP   ABRAHAM    LINCOLN.  337 

?oncerned,  was  not  made  public  until  the  llth  of  March  fol- 
lowing. In  it,  the  President  fully  resumed  his  constitutional 
position  as  Commander-in-chief  of  the  Army  and  Navy,  prac- 
tically dispensing  •with  the  services  of  Gen.  McClellan  as  a 
'•'  Lieutenant,"  in  the  discharge  of  those  high  duties,  as  was 
more  formally  announced  at  a  later  day,  on  the  publication  of 
this  general  order. 

After  thus  directing  Gen.  McClellan's  efforts  more  particu- 
larly to  the  management  of  the  Army  of  the  Potomac,  the 
President  soon  found  it  expedient  to  concentrate  that  officer's 
thoughts  upon  some  definite  plan — which  had  evidently  been 
not  very  clearly  before  his  mind  hitherto — for  rendering  this 
great  force  of  practical  service  to  the  Government.  Conse- 
quently, four  days  later,  the  following  order  was  communicated 
to  McClellan  : 

EXECUTIVE  MANSION,  WASHINGTON,     ") 
January  31,  1862.  j 

ORDERED,  That  all  the  disposable  force  of  the  Army  of  the 
Potomac,  after  providing  safely  for  the  defense  of  Washington, 
be  formed  into  an  expedition  for  the  immediate  object  of  seiz- 
ing and  occupying  a  point  upon  the  railroad  south-westward 
of  what  is  known  as  Manassas  Junction ;  all  details  to  be  in 
the  discretion  of  the  Commander-in-chief,  and  the  expedition 
to  move  before,  or  on,  the  twenty-second  day  of  February  next. 

ABRAHAM  LINCOLN. 

Immediately  after  receiving  this  order,  Gen.  McClellan  pre- 
pared a  long  letter  to  Mr.  Stanton,  (dated  January  31,  1862,) 
in  which  he  set  forth  his  objections  to  this  movement,  and 
vehemently  urged  the  substitution  of  a  plan  of  advance  upon 
Richmond  by  the  Lower  Rappahannock,  with  Urbana  as  a 
base.  He  .insists  that  a  movement  by  Manassas  must  be 
delayed  on  account  of  the  bad  condition  of  the  roads,  and  that 
this  difficulty  would  be  removed  by  taking  the  route  he  pro- 
poses, over  a  more  sandy  soil,  and  in  a  latitude  in  which  the 
season  is  two  or  three  weeks  earlier.  "  This  movement,  if 
adopted1,"  he  says,  ''will  not  at  all  expose  the  city  of  Washing- 
ton to  danger.  The  total  fprce  to  be  thrown  upon  the  new 
line  would  be  (according  to  circumstances)  from  110,000  to 
29 


338  LIFE   OF   ABRAHAM   LINCOLN. 

140,000.  I  hope  to  use  the  latter  number  by  bringing  fresh 
troops  into  Washington,  and  still  leaving  it  quite  safe."  The 
maximum  number  here  stated  would  still  leave  more  than 
60,000  for  the  defense  of  Washington,  without  additional 
"fresh  troops."  Gen.  McClellan  closes  this  letter  with  the 
following  earnest  appeal : 

In  conclusion,  I  would  respectfully  but  firmly  advise  that 
I  may  be  authorized  to  undertake  at  once  the  movement  by 
Urbana.  I  believe  that  it  can  be  carried  into  execution  so 
nearly  simultaneously  with  the  final  advance  of  Buell  and 
Halleck,  that  the  columns  will  support  each  other.  I  will 
stake  my  life,  my  reputation,  on  the  result, — more  than  that,  I 
will  stake  upon  it  the  success  of  o\ir  cause.  I  hope  but  littlo 
from  the  attack  on  Manassas.  My  judgment  is  against  it. 
Foreign  complications  may  entirely  change  the  state  of  affairs, 
and  render  very  different  plans  necessary.  In  that  event,  I 
will  be  ready  to  submit  to  them. 

On  the  3d  of  February,  President  Lincoln  addressed  to  Gen. 
McClellan  the  following  memorable  letter,  having  reference  to 
the  Urbana  plan,  scarcely  more  than  alluded  to  by  McClellaii 
in  his  final  report,  and  seemingly  as  unceremoniously  aban- 
doned, after  serving  a  purpose,  as  it  had  been  zealously  impro- 
vised : 

EXECUTIVE  MANSION,  WASHINGTON, 

February  3,  1862.  f 

MY  DEAR  SIR:  You  and  I  have  distinct  and  different 
plans  for  a  movement  of  the  Army  of  the  Potomac ;  yours  to 
be  done  by  the  Chesapeake,  up  the  Rappahannock  to  Urbana, 
and  across  land  to  the  terminus  of  the  railroad  on  the  York 
river ;  mine  to  move  directly  to  a  point  on  the  railroad  south- 
west of  Manassas. 

If  you  will  give  satisfactory  answers  to  the  following  ques- 
tions, I  shall  gladly  yield  my  plan  to  yours : 

1st.  Does  not  your  plan  involve  a  greatly  larger  expendi- 
ture of  time  and  money  than  mine  ? 

2d.  Wherein  is  a  victory  more  certain  by  your  plan  than 
mine  ?  , 

3d.  Wherein  is  a  victory  more  valuable  by  your  plan  than 
mine? 

4th.  In  fact,  would  it  not  be  less  valuable  in  this ;  that  it 
would  break  no  great  line  of  the  enemy's  communications-., 
while  mine  would  ? 


LIFE   OP    ABRAHAM    LINCOLN.  339 

5th.  In  case  of  disaster,  would  not  a  retreat  be  more  diffi- 
cult by  your  plan  than  mine  ? 

Yours,  truly,  A.  LINCOLN. 

MAJ.-GEN.  MCCLELLAN. 

These  plain  test  questions  were  never  directly  met.  In  a 
long  letter  of  the  same  date,  however,  addressed  to  the  Secre- 
tary of  War,  arguing  the  merits  of  the  two  plans,  Gen.  McClel- 
lan  avers  that  he  ''  substantially  answered "  the  President's 
inquiries.  The  subject  remained  for  some  time  under  con- 
sideration, the  President's  order  not  withdrawn,  but  its  exe- 
cution suspended,  while  McClellan  at  length  proceeded  to  the 
work  of  opening  the  Baltimore  and  Ohio  Railroad,  under 
urgent  pressure  from  his  superiors. 

On  the  26th  of  February,  he  announced,  from  Sandy  Hook, 
that  Loudon  and  Bolivar  Heights,  and  also  Maryland 
Heights,  had  been  occupied  by  our  troops,  ai*l  that  G.  W. 
Smith  was  expected  at  Winchester  with  15,000  Rebels.  After 
incurring  much  cost  and  delay  in  the  construction  of  canal 
boats  to  be  used  in  crossing  the  Upper  Potomac,  he  now 
found,  on  proceeding  to  use  them,  a  considerable  force  intended 
for  Winchester  being  already  under  orders,  that,  as  he  ex- 
pressed it  in  a  dispatch  to  the  Secretary  of  War,  Feb.  27th, 
"  the  lift-lock  "  was  a  too  small  "  to  permit  the  boats  to  pass 
up  to  their  destination.  Mr.  Stanton  sent  this  laconic  reply, 
under  the  same  date:  "  Gen.  McClellan  —  If  the- lift-lock  is 
not  big  enough,  why  can  not  it  be  made  big  enough  ?  Please 
answer  immediately."  The  response  was,  that,  to  do  this,  the 
entire  masonry  must  be  destroyed  and  rebuilt.  Consequently, 
the  boats,  long  patiently  waited  for,  were  summarily  dispensed 
with,  and  the  marching  orders  countermanded.  At  the  same 
time,  for  reasons  satisfactory  to  himself,  McClellan  revoked  an 
order  he  had  given  to  Hooker,  for  a  movement  toward  silencing 
the  Rebel  batteries  on  the  Potomac,  which  had  also  been  earn- 
estly pressed  by  the  Administration.  His  plan  at  Harper's 
Ferry,  as  stated  Feb.  28,  was  chiefly  "  to  occupy  Charlestown 
and  Bunker  Hill,  so  as  to  cover  the  rebuilding  of  the  railway," 
making  the  following  objections  to  the  desired  advance  upon 


340  LIFE   OP   ABRAHAM    LINCOLN. 

Winchester  and  thorough  occupation  of  the  Shenandoah  Valley : 
"  We  could  not  supply  and  move  to  Winchester  for  many  days, 
and  had  I  moved  more  troops  here,  they  would  have  been  at 
a  loss  for  food  on  the  Virginia  side."  McClellan  soon  after 
returned  to  Washington,  and  began  the  movement  on  Manas- 
sas,  as  required  by  the  President's  order  of  January  31st — a 
full  month  having  now  intervened. 

Events  in  the  Valley,  for  some  time  to  come,  may  here  be 
briefly  summed  up.  Charlestown  was  occupied  in  force  by 
Gen.  Banks  on  the  28th  of  February,  and  Martinsburg  on  the 
3d  of  March.  Col.  Geary  occupied  Leesburg  on  the  2d.  Stone- 
wall Jackson  evacuated  Winchester  on  the  llth,  and  was  pur- 
sued by  Gen.  Shields  (who  had  succeeded  the  lamented  Gen. 
Lander,)  until  overtaken  near  New  Market  on  the  19th,  within 
supporting  distance  of  the  Rebel  force  under  Joe  Johnston, 
(who  had  taken  full  command,  in  that  quarter,  when  Beaure- 
gard  left  for  the  West,  the  last  of  January  )  Shields  retreated 
rapidly  to  Winchester,  on  the  20th.  On  the  22d,  by  order  of 
Gen.  McClellan,  the  forces  of  Gen.  Banks,  now  constituting  the 
Fifth  Corps  of  the  Army  of  the  Potomac,  were  nearly  all,  with 
the  exception  of  Shields'  division,  withdrawn  to  the  vicinity  of 
Manassas.  On  the  same  evening,  the  Rebels,  under  Jackson 
and  Longstreet,  supposed  to  be  10,000  strong,  attacked  the 
place,  and  were  gallantly  repulsed  by  Shields,  whose  division 
numbered  less  than  8.000.  After  this  battle,  Gen.  Banks, 
having  returned  to  the  Valley,  followed  up  the  retreating 
enemy,  successively  occupying  Strasburg,  Woodstock,  and  (on 
the  26th  of  March)  Hanisonburg.  The  Rebel  forces  now 
retired  from  that  region,  and  the  Valley  was  comparatively 
quiet  for  nearly  two  months  following. 

On  the  28th  of  February,  McClellan  returned  to  Washing- 
ton. The  results  at  Harper's  Ferry,  as  well  as  the  delay  in 
raising  the  blockade  of  the  Lower  Potomac,  had  been  far  from 
satisfactory  to  the  President.  The  day  fixed  for  a  general 
movement  had  passed,  and  the  plan  of  advancing  on  Richmond 
by  the  Chesapeake,  if  acquiesced  in,  was  manifestly  impracti- 
cable, unless  by  the  roundabout  way  of  Annapolis,  until  the 
Potomac  had  first  been  cleared  of  the  Rebel  batteries.  Mean- 


LIFE   OF   ABRAHAM   LINCOLN.  341 

while,  as  early  as  the  15th  of  February,  measures  had  been 
taken  by  the  Secretary  of  War  to  secure  with  promptness  the 
necessary  transportation  by  water  for  the  forces  to  be  moved. 
This  fact  indicates  the  determination  of  the  Administration  to 
acquiesce  in  a  plan  on  which  the  Commanding  General  was 
ready  to  stake  so  much,  rather  than  to  insist  on  a  movement 
much  preferred,  yet  which  could  hardly  be  expected  to  suc- 
ceed under  the  reluctant  generalship  of  one  who  felt  no  confi- 
dence in  its  success,  and  who  would  show  no  alacrity  in  its 
execution. 

With  all  that  had  been  accomplished  in  the  way  of  organi- 
zation, discipline,  and  general  preparation,  the  Army  of  the 
Potomac  had  still  remained  without  distribution  into  Army 
Corps.  The  President,  sustained  by  the  best  military  authori- 
ties and  advisers,  if  not  by  the  universal  practice  in  modern 
warfare,  had  desired  such  organization  to  be  made.  This  Gen. 
McClellan  had  failed  to  attend  to,  and  it  was  not  until  he  was 
on  the  eve  of  a  movement  toward  Manassas,  with  a  manifest 
purpose  not  to  perfect  his  organization,  that  President  Lincoln 
issued  the  following  peremptory  order :  ,-„;.  -,j 

EXECUTIVE  MANSION,  WASHINGTON,     ) 
March  8,  1862. } 

President's  General  War  Order,  No.  2.] 

ORDERED,  I.  That  the  Major-General  commanding  the 
Army  of  the  Potomac  proceed  forthwith  to  organize  that  part 
of  said  army  destined  to  enter  upon  active  operations,  (inclu- 
ding the  reserve,  but  excluding  the  troops  to  be  left  in  the 
fortifications  about  Washington,)  into  four  army  corps,  to  be 
commanded  according  to  seniority  of  rank,  as  follows : 

First  Corps,  to  consist  of  four  divisions,  and  to  be  com- 
manded by  Maj.-Gen.  I.  McDowell. 

Second  Corps,  to  consist  of  three  divisions,  and  to  be  com- 
manded by  Brig.-Gen.  E.  V.  Sumner. 

Third  Corps,  to  consist  of  three  divisions,  and  to  be  com- 
manded by  Brig.-Gen.  S.  P.  Heintzelman. 

Fourth  Corps,  to  consist  of  three  divisions,  and  to  be  com- 
manded by  Brig.-Gen.  E.  D.  Keyes. 

II.  That  the  divisions  now  commanded  by  the  oflicers  above 
assigned  to  the  command  of  Corps,  shall  be  embraced  in  and 
form  part  of  their  respective  Corps. 


342  LIFE   OP   ABRAHAM   LINCOLN. 

III.  The  forces  left  for  the  defense  of  Washington  will  bo 
placed  in  command  of  Brig.-Gen.  James  S.  Wadsworth.  who 
shall  also  be  Military  Governor  of  the  District  of  Columbia. 

IV.  That  this  order  be  executed  with  such  promptness  and 
dispatch,  as  not  to  delay  the  commencement  of  the  operations 
already  directed  to  be  undertaken  by  the  Army  of  the  Po- 
tomac. 

V.  That  the  Fifth  Army  Corps,  to  be  commaded  by  Maj.- 
Gen.  N.  P.  Banks,  will  be'  formed  from  his  own  and  Gen. 
Shields',  late  Gen.  Lander's,  division. 

ABRAHAM  LINCOLN. 

To  the  execution  of  this  order,  the  Commanding  General 
interposed  such  obstacles  as  were  in  his  power,  without  positive 
refusal.  On  the  9th  of  March,  having  taken  the  field,  he  tele- 
graphed to  Secretary  Stanton  from  Hall's  Hill,  the  headquar- 
ters of  Fitz  John  Porter,  that  "  in  the  arrangements  for 
to-morrow  it  is  impossible  to  carry  "  the  order  "  into  effect," 
and  asks  its  suspension.  The  Secretary  promptly  replied :  "  I 
think  it  is  the  duty  of  every  officer  to  obey  the  President's 
orders,  nor  can  I  see  any  reason  why  you  should  not  obey 
them  in  the  present  instance.  I  must,  therefore,  decline  to  sus- 
pend them."  McClellan,  still  at  Hall's  Hill,  telegraphs,  on 
the  10th,  that  he  "tnust  suspend  movement,  or  disregard 
order,"  alleging  "military  necessity,"  and  adds  :  "  If  you  desire 
it,  I  will  at  once  countermand  "  marching  orders.  To  avoid 
this  alternative,  consent  was  granted  for  a  temporary  delay, 
until  the  impending  movement  should  have  been  executed. 
The  same  day,  McClellan  informed  the  Department  that  the 
troops  were  in  motion.  Centreville  was  occupied  that  evening 
without  opposition,  and  Manassas  on  the  llth,  the  only  obstacle 
to  movement  being  that  the  "  roads  are  horrible." 

Before  this  movement  actually  commenced,  the  President, 
who  had  reluctantly  yielded  his  preference  for  such  an  advance 
on  Richmond  as  would  at  the  same  time  cover  the  National 
Capital,  and  who  had  not  been  indifferent  to  the  neglect  of  his 
wishes  in  regard  to  the  opening  of  the  Potomac,  or  to  the  delays 
which  experience  had  led  him  to  dread,  issued  the  subjoined 
general  order : 


LIFE  OP  ABRAHAM  LINCOLN.  .      343 

EXECUTIVE  MANSION,  WASHINGTON,     ) 
March  8,  1862.  j 

ORDERED,  That  no  change  of  the  base  of  operations  of  the 
Army  of  the  Potomac  shall  be  made  without  leaving  in  and 
about  Washington  such  a  force  as,  in  the  opinion  of  the 
General-in-chief  and  the  commanders  of  army  corps,  shall 
leave  said  city  entirely  secure. 

That  no  more  than  two  army  corps  (about  fifty  thousand 
troops)  of  said  Army  of  the  Potomac  shall  be  moved  en  route 
for  a  new  base  of  operations  until  the  navigation  of  the  Poto- 
mac, from  Washington  to  the  Chesapeake  Bay,  shall  be  freed 
from  the  enemy's  batteries,  and  other  obstructions,  or  until  the 
President  shall  hereafter  give  express  permission. 

That  any  movement  as  aforesaid,  en  route  for  a  new  base  of 
operations,  which  may  be  ordered  by  the  General-in-chief,  and 
which  may  be  intended  to  move  upon  Chesapeake  Bay,  shall 
begin  to  move  upon  the  bay  as  early  as  the  18th  of  March, 
instant,  and  the  General-in-chief  shall  be  responsible  that  it 
moves  as  early  as  that  day. 

ORDERED,  That  the  Army  and  Navy  cooperate  in  an  imme- 
diate effort  to  capture  the  enemy's  batteries  upon  the  Potomac 
between  Washington  and  the  Chesapeake  Bay. 

ABRAHAM  LINCOLN. 

L.  THOMAS,  Adjutant-General. 

On  the  9th  of  March,  the  steamer  Merrimac,  which  had 
been  taken  possession  of  by  the  insurgents  at  Norfolk,  after 
the  abandonment  of  that  post  in  the  spring  of  1861,  and  con- 
verted into  a  formidable  iron-clad  vessel,  re-named  the  Vir- 
ginia, attacked  and  destroyed  the  Government  sailing  frigates 
Cumberland  and  Congress.  The  Minnesota,  in  coming  to  their 
assistance,  ran  aground.  For  awhile,  all  the  shipping  in  the 
harbor  seemed  at  the  mercy  of  the  Rebel  monster.  But  the 
timely  arrival  of  Ericsson's  Monitor,  just  completed,  and 
hitherto  regarded  as  a  doubtful  experiment,  ended  the  work  of 
destruction,  and  caused  the  Merrimac  to  retire  within  shelter 
at  Norfolk.  These  hurried  and  startling  events  caused  great 
sensation  at  the  time,  both  in  this  country  and  abroad,  and 
have  had  a  marked  influence  in  regard  to  naval  armaments 
every-where. 

McClellan  having  now  taken  the  field,  so  that  a  supervision 
of  all  the  armies  of  the  nation  was  clearly  out  of  his  power, 


344  LIFE   OF    ABRAHAM    LINCOLN. 

the  President  made  public  a  change  that  was  no  secret  to  the 
General  commanding  the  Army  of  the  Potomac,  through  the 
following  order — in  which,  also,  two  separate  departments  were 
created  in  the  West,  to  he  commanded  hy  Gens.  Ilallcek 
and  Buell,  and  a  third  intermediate  department,  under  the 
command  of  Gen.  Fremont: 

EXECUTIVE  MANSION,  WASHINGTON,     ) 
March  11,  1862.  } 

President's  War  Order,  Ko.  3.] 

Maj.-Gen.  McClellan  having  personally  taken  the  field  at 
the  head  of  the  Army  of  the  Potrfmac  until  otherwise  ordered, 
he  is  relieved  from  the  command  of  the  other  military  depart- 
ments, he  retaining  command  of  the  Department  of  the  Poto- 
mac. 

ORDERED,  FURTHER,  That  the  two  departments  now  under 
the  respective  commands  of  Gens.  Halleck  and  Hunter, 
together  with  so  much  of  that  under  Gen.  Buell  as  lies  west 
of  a  north  and  south  line  indefinitely  drawn  through  Knoxville, 
Tennessee,  be  consolidated  and  designated  the  Department  of 
the  Mississippi,  and  that  until  otherwise  ordered  Maj.-Gen. 
Halleck  have  command  of  said  department. 

ORDERED,  ALSO,  That  the  country  west  of  the  Department 
of  the  Potomac  and  east  of  the  Department  of  the  Mississippi 
be  a  military  department,  to  be  called  the  Mountain  Depart- 
ment, and  that  the  same  be  commanded  by  Maj.-Gen.  Fre- 
mont. 

That  all  the  Commanders  of  Departments,  after  the  receipt 
of  this  order  by  them  respectively,  report  severally  and  directly 
to  the  Secretary  of  War,  and  that  prompt,  full  and  frequent 
reports  will  be  expected  of  all  and  each  of  them. 

ABRAHAM  LINCOLN. 

Gen.  McClellan  telegraphed  to  the  Secretary  of  War  from 
Fairfax  Court  House,  on  the  13th  of  March,  that  a  council  of 
the  commanders  of  army  corps  had  "  unanimously  agreed  upon 
a  plan  of  operations,"  which  Gen.  McDowell  would  lay  before 
him.  To  this  the  Secretary,  on  the  same  day,  replied  :  "What- 
ever plan  has  been  agreed  upon,  proceed  at  once  to  execute, 
without  losing  an  hour  for  any  approval." 

The  plan — which,  in  answer  to  a  question  of  Mr.  Stanton, 
Gen.  McClellan  stated  that  "  the  council,  together  with  him- 
self," were  unanimous  in  forming — was  given  in  these  words  : 


LIFE   OP   ABRAHAM   LINCOLN.  345 

HEADQUARTERS  ARMY  OF  THE  POTOMAC,     ) 
FAIRFAX  COURT  HOUSE,  March  13,  1862.  } 
A  council  of  the  Generals  commanding  army  corps,  at  the 
headquarters  of  the  Army  of  the  Potomac,  were  of  the  opinion — 

I.  That  the  enemy  having  retreated  from  Manassas  to  Gor- 
donsville,  behind  the  Kappahannock  and  Rapidan,  it   is  the 
opinion  of  the  Generals  commanding  army  corps  that  the  ope- 
rations to  be  carried  on  will  he  best  undertaken  from  Old  Point 
Comfort,  between  the  York  and  James  rivers  :  Provided,     ' 

1st.  That  the  enemy's  vessel,  Merrimac,  can  be  neutralized. 

2d.  That  the  means  of  transportation,  sufficient  for  an  im- 
mediate transfer  of  the  force  to  its  new  base,  can  be  ready  at 
at  Washington  and  Alexandria  to  move  down  the  Potomac  ;  and, 

3d.  That  a  naval  auxiliary  force  can  be  had  to  silence,  or  aid 
in  silencing,  the  enemy's  batteries  on  the  York  river. 

4th.  That  the  force  to  be  left  to  cover  Washington  shall  be 
such  as  to  give  an  entire  feeling  of  security  for  its  safety  from 
menace.  (Unanimous.) 

II.  If  the  foregoing  can  not  be,  the  army  should  then  be 
moved  against  the  enemy,  behind  the  Rappahannock,  at  the 
earliest   possible  moment,  and  the   means  for  reconstructing 
bridges,  repairing  railroads,  and  stocking  them  with  materials 
sufficient  for  supplying  the  army,  should  at  once  be  collected, 
for  both  the  Orange  and  Alexandria  and  Acquia  and  Rich- 
mond Railroads.     (Unanimous.) 

NOTE. — That  with  the  forts  on  the  right  bank  of  the  Poto- 
mac fully  garrisoned,  and  those  on  the  left  bank  occupied,  a 
covering  force  in  front  of  the  Virginia  line  of  twenty-five  thou- 
sand men  would  suffice.  (Keyes,  Heintzelman  and  McDowell.) 
A  total  of  forty  thousand  men  for  the  defense  of  the  city  would 
suffice.  (Sumner.) 

The  scheme  having  been  promptly  submitted  to  the  Presi- 
dent, the  following  dispatch  was  immediately  returned  : 

WAR  DEPARTMENT,  March  13,  1862. 

The  President  having  considered  the  plan  of  operations 
agreed  upon  by  yourself  and  the  commanders  of  army  corps, 
makes  no  objection  to  the  same,  but  gives  the  following  direc- 
tions as  to  its  execution  : 

1.  Leave  such  force  at  Manassas  Junction  as  shall  make  it 
entirely  certain  that  the  enemy  shall  not  repossess  himself  of 
that  position  and  line  of  communication. 

2.  Leave  Washington  entirely  secure. 

3.  Move  the  remainder  of  the  force  down   the  Potomac, 
choosing  a  new  base  at  Fortress  Monroe,  or  any-where  between 


346  LIFE    OF   ABRAHAM   LINCOLN. 

here  and  there,  or,  at  all  events,  move  such  remainder  of  the 
army  at  once  in  pursuit  of  the  enemy  by  some  route. 

EDWIN  M.  STANTON, 

Secretary  of  "War. 
Maj.-Gen.  GEORGE  B.  MCCLELLAN. 

McClellan  replied  that  this  would  "  be  at  once  carried  into 
effect." 

Transportation  was  rapidly  provided,  under  the  direction  of 
the  War  Department,  this  work  having  really  commenced  as 
early  as  the  middle  of  February,  and  the  other  preparations 
for  departure,  on  the  part  of  the  force  intended  for  the  Penin- 
sula, were  soon  in  readiness.  The  following  statement  of  the 
numerical  strength  of  this  portion  of  the  Army,  on  the  1st  of 
April,  is  taken  from  the  official  report  of  the  Adjutant  Gen- 
eral : 

First  Corps,  under  General  I.  McDowell,     -     -  38,454 

Second     "         "             "        E.  V.  Sumner,      -  31,037 

Third,     "         "            "        S.  P.  Heintzelman,  38,854 

Fourth,   «         "             "        E.  D.  Keyes,     -     -  37,910 

Regular  Infantry, 4,765 

Regular  Cavalry, 3,141 

Artillery  Reserve, 3,116 

Provost  Guards,  U.  S.  Engineer  forces,  and  Head- 
quarters Cavalry  escort, 1,144 


Total, 158,419 

From  the  same  authority,  it  appears  that  the  total  force  left 
(according  to  the  intention  of  Gen.  McClellan)  under  command 
of  Brig.-Gen.  James  S.  Wadsworth,  now  appointed  Military 
Governor  of  the  District  of  Washington,  was  22,410,  of  whom 
less  than  20,000  were  present  for  duty.  How  far  this  number 
fell  short  of  all  McClellan's  previous  estimates  of  the  necessary 
force  for  the  defense  of  the  city,  need  not  be  suggested  to  the 
reader  of  the  preceding  pages.  Gen.  Wadsworth  promptly 
called  the  attention  of  the  War  Department  to  this  striking 
deficiency.  The  plan  of  the  Peninsular  movement  as  submit- 
ted for  Executive  approval,  the  special  order  of  the  President 
consenting  to  this  plan,  on  condition  that  the  capital  should  be 


LIFE   OP   ABRAHAM   LINCOLN.  347 

rendered  secure,  and  the  letter  of  Gen.  Wadsworth  on  this  sub- 
ject, were  referred  to  Adj. -Gen.  Thomas  and  Maj.-Gen.  E.  A. 
Hitchcock,  who  were  required  to  report  whether  the  President's 
order,  in  this  matter,  had  been  carried  out.  Those  officers, 
after  full  consideration,  reported  that  the  force  proposed  to  be 
left,  in  execution  of  that  order,  was  "entirely  inadequate." 
They  further  said : 

In  view  of  the  opinion  expressed  by  the  council  of  the  com- 
manders of  army  corps  of  the  force  necessary  for  the  capital, 
though  not  numerically  stated,  and  of  the  force  represented  by 
Gen.  McClellan  as  lef't  for  that  purpose,  we  are  of  opinion 
that  the  requirement  of  the  President  that  this  city  shall  be 
left  entirely  secure,  not  only  in  the  opinion  of  the  General-in- 
chief,  but  that  of  the  commanders  of  all  the  army  corps,  also, 
has  not  been  fully  complied  with. 

Meanwhile,  the  movement  of  troops  from  Alexandria  to 
Fortress  Monroe  had  commenced.  Gen.  Hamilton's  division, 
of  the  Third  Corps,  embarked  on  the  17th  of  March,  and  was 
followed  by  Fitz  John  Porter's  division,  of  the  same  corps,  on 
the  22d.  Other  troops  followed  at  intervals,  as  transports  were 
ready.  Gen.  McClellan  himself  left  Alexandria  on  the  1st  of 
April,  and  reached  Fortress  Monroe  the  next  day. 

There  still  remained  two  army  corps  which  had  not  yet 
been  transferred  to  the  Peninsula,  when  the  report  of  Gens. 
Thomas  and  Hitchcock  was  made.  The  only  remedy  for 
McClellan's  intended  disregard  alike  of  the  conditions  of  his 
own  plan  and  of  the  President's  requirement,  respecting  the 
force  to  be  left  at  Washington  and  in  its  vicinity,  was  such  as 
the  President  applied  in  the  first  part  of  the  following  order, 
the  wisdom  of  which  was  soon  fully  demonstrated : 

EXECUTIVE  MANSION,  WASHINGTON, 

April  3,  1862. 

The  Secretary  of  War  will  order  that  one  or  the  other  of 
the  corps  of  Gen.  McDowell  and  Gen.  Sumner  remain  in  front 
of  Washington  until  further  orders  from  the  Department,  to 
operate  at,  or  in  the  direction  of,  Manassas  Junction,  or  other- 
wise as  the  occasion  may  require ;  that  the  other  corps,  not  so 
ordered  to  remain,  go  forward  to  Gen.  McClellan  as  speedily 
as  possible  ;  that  Gen.  McClellan  commence  his  forward  move- 


348  LIFE  OF  ABRAHAM  LINCOLN. 

ments  from  his  new  base  at  once,  and  that  such  incidental 
modifications  a&  the  foregoing  may  render  proper,  be  also  made. 

ABRAHAM  LINCOLN. 

On  the  same  day,  Gen.  McCIellan  had  telegraphed  from  Fort 
ress  Monroe  :  "  I  expect  to  move  from  here  to-morrow  morning 
on  Yorktown,  where  a  force  of  some  15,000  of  the  Rebels  are 
in  intrenched  position',  and  I  think  it  quite  possible  they  will 
attempt  to  resist  us."  On  the  4th,  he  said :  "  Our  advance  is 
at  Cockestown,  within  five  miles  of  Yorktown.  ...  I  expect  to 
fight  to-morrow,  as  I  shall  endeavor  to  cut  the  communication 
between  Yorktown  and  Richmond."  At  the  same  time  Gen. 
Wool,  telegraphing  the  departure  of  these  forces  for  York- 
town,  expressed  a  decided  opinion  that  no  serious  resistance 
•would  be  encountered  there.  It  is  probable,  from  the  informa- 
tion since  obtained,  that  when  the  movement  commenced,  the 
Rebel  force  under  Magruder  was  less  than  10,000.  It  is  cer- 
tain that  the  intrenchments  were  by  no  means  so  formidable  as 
to  justify  the  loss  of  time  requisite  for  a  siege,*not  only  wast- 
ing precious  days,  but  wearing  out  as  many  lives  in  the 
trenches  as  would  have  been  sacrificed  in  carrying  the  works 
by  assault.  Such,  at  least,  appears  to  have  been  the  opinion 
of  the  President,  who  did  not  imagine  for  a  moment,  when  his 
order  above  quoted  was  given,  that  a  purpose  to  sit  down  before 
Yorktown,  until  the  enemy  had  time  to  concentrate  a  strong 
force  there,  was  entertained  by  the  Commanding  General. 

Carrying  out  the  policy  of  his  order  of  April  3d,  the  Presi- 
dent, as  indicated  by  an  order  issued  from  the  War  Department 
on  the  following  day,  created  two  new  military  departments, 
including  the  spheres  of  operation  and  the  troops  left  behind 
by  McCIellan  on  his  withdrawal  to  the  Peninsula.  The 
Department  of  the  Shenandoah  embraced  that  portion  of  Vir- 
ginia and  Maryland  lying  between  the  Mountain"  Department 
and  the  Blue  Ridge,  and  was  put  under  the  command  of  Maj.- 
Gen.  Banks.  The  Department  of  the  Rappahannock  com- 
prised  that  portion  of  Virginia  east  of  the  Blue  Ridge  to  the 
Potomac  and  the  Fredericksburg  and  Richmond  Railroad, 
together  with  the  District  of  Columbia  and  the  country  between 
the  Potomac  and  the  Patuxent.  Gen.  McDowell  was  desig- 


LIFE  OF  ABRAHAM  LINCOLN.  349 

nated  to  command  this  department.  The  movements  of  the 
enemy  in  the  valley,  and  the  exposed  condition  ia  which 
McClellan  had  been  on  the  point  of  leaving  the  National  Capi- 
tal, in  disregard  of  instructions  and  of  the  express  conditions 
on  -which  the  movement  to  the  Peninsula  was  permitted, 
showed  the  expediency  of  having  a  responsible  commander  in 
both  these  localities.  The  remoteness  of  Gen.  McClellan,  and 
his  occupation  with  other  engrossing  duties,  seemed  further  to 
require  this  change. 

If  the  President  had  not  expected  any  serious  loss  of  time 
at  Yorktown,  it  is  equally  evident,  from  official  dispatches,  that 
such  a  thought  had  found  no  place  in  the  mind  of  McClellan 
until  about  the  same  date  as  his  official  notification  of  the 
action  of  the  Administration,  just  referred  to.  His  dispatch, 
urging  a  reconsideration  of  this  action,  was  prefaced  by  repre- 
sentations of  the  numbers  and  preparations  of  the  enemy,  not 
very  closely  agreeing  with  those  previously  given,  yet  at  least 
such  as  to  afford  cogent  reasons  for  an  unhesitating  advance. 
This  significant  paper  is  subjoined  : 

[Received  8.30  A.  M.,  April  6.] 

NEAR  YORKTOAVN,  7J  P.  M.,  April  5. 
A.  LINCOLN,  President :  The  enemy  are  in  large  force  along 
our  front,  and  apparently  intend  making  a  determined  resist- 
ance. A  reconnoissance  just  made  by  Gen.  Barnard  shows  that 
their  line  of  works  extend  across  the  entire  Peninsula  from 
Yorktown  to  Warwick  river.  Many  of  them  are  very  formid- 
able. Deserters  say  they  are  being  reenforced  daily  from 
Richmond  and  from  Norfolk.  Under  these  circumstances,  I 
beg  that  you  will  reconsider  the  order  detaching  the  First  Corps 
from  my  command.  In  my  deliberate  judgment  the  success  of 
our  cause  will  be  imperiled  by  so  greatly  reducing  my  force 
when  it  is  actually  under  the  fire  of  the  enemy,  and  active  ope- 
rations have  commenced.  Two  or  three  of  my  divisions  have 
been  under  fire  of  artillery  most  of  the  day.  I  am  now  of  the 
opinion  that  I  shall  have  to  fight  all  the  available  force  of  the 
Rebels  not  far  from  here.  Do  not  force  me  to  do  so  with 
diminished  numbers,  but  whatever  your  decision  may  be  I  will 
lenve  nothing  \indone  to  obtain  success.  If  you  can  not  leave 
me  the  whole  of  the  First  Corps,  I  urgently  ask  that  I  may  not 
lose  Franklin  and  his  division. 

G.  B.  MCCLELLAN,  Major-General. 


350  LIFE   OF   ABRAHAM   LINCOLN. 

To  this  dispatch  the  following  reply  was  promptly  sent : 

WAR  DEPARTMENT,  WASHINGTON  CITY,     ") 
April  6,  1862.  J 

Maj.-Gen.  GEO.  B.  MC€LELLAN  :  The  President  directs 
me  to  say  that  your  dispatch  to  him  has  been  received.  Sum- 
ner's  corps  is  on  the  road  to  you,  and  will  go  forward  as  fast 
as  possible.  Franklin's  division  is  now  on  the  advance  toward 
Manassas.  There  are  no  means  of  transportation  here  to  send 
it  forward  in  time  to  be  of  service  in  your  present  operations. 
Telegraph  frequently,  and  all  in  the  power  of  the  Government 
shall  be  done  to  sustain  you  as  occasion  may  require. 
EDWIN  M.  STANTON, 

Secretary  of  War. 

Magruder,  who  commanded  the  Rebel  force  near  Yorktown, 
fully  appreciated  the  element  of  time  in  this  campaign,  and 
undoubtedly  maneuvered  with  some  skill  to  put  his  adversary 
on  a  cautious  policy.  In  general  orders  to  be  read  to  his  troops, 
on  the  4th  of  April,  he  said  :  "  The  enemy  is  before  us — our 
works  are  strong — our  cause  is  good — we  fight  for  our  homes, 
and  must  be  careful.  Every  hour  we  hold  out,  brings  us 
reinforcements."  Instead  of  availing  himself  of  his  over- 
whelming superiority  of  numbers,  by  a  resolute  attack,  McClel- 
lan  paused  to  discuss  still  further  the  conduct  of  the  Admin- 
istration as  to  matters  far  away  from  the  immediate  sphere  of 
his  labors,  and  to  beg  for  reinforcements.  On  the  6th,  he  sent 
the  following  dispatch,  (received  in  Washington  at  3  o'clock 
R  M.) : 

HEADQUARTERS  ARMY  OF  THE  POTOMAC. 

A.  LINCOLN,  President:  The  order  forming  new  Depart- 
ments, if  rigidly  enforced,  deprives  me  of  the  power  of  order- 
ing up  wagons  and  troops  absolutely  necessary  to  enable  me 
to  advance  to  Richmond.  I  have  by  no  means  the  transporta- 
tion I  must  have  to  move  my  army  even  a  few  miles.  I 
respectfully  request  that  I  may  not  be  placed  in  this  position,  but 
that  my  orders  for  wagon  trains,  ammunition,  and  other  mate- 
rial that  I  have  prepared  and  necessarily  left  behind,  as  well 
as  Woodbury's  brigade,  may  at  once  be  complied  with.  The 
enemy  is  strong  in  my  front,  and  I  have  a  most  serious  task 
before  me,  in  the  fulfillment  of  which  I  need  all  the  aid  the 


LIFE   OF   ABRAHAM   LINCOLN.  351 

Government  can  give  me.  I  again  repeat  the  urgent  request 
that  Gen.  Franklin  and  his  division  may  be  restored  to  my 
command. 

G.  B.  McCLELLAN,  Major-General. 

To  this  the  President  replied  : 

WASHINGTON,  April  6,  1862. 

Maj.-Gen.  MCCLELLAN,  Fortress  Monroe :  Yours  of  11  A, 
M.  to-day  received.  The  Secretary  of  War  informs  me  that 
the  forwarding  of  transportation,  ammunition,  and  Woodbury's 
brigade,  under  your  orders,  is  not,  and  will  not  be,  interfered 
with.  You  now  have  over  one  hundred  thousand  troops  with 
you,  independent  of  Gen.  Wool's  command.  I  think  you  had 
better  break  the  enemy's  line  from  Yorktown  to  Warwick  river 
it  once.  They  will  probably  use  time  as  advantageously  as 
you  can.  A.  LINCOLN. 

In  disregarding  this  pointed  advice  —  from  one  who  was 
entitled  to  command  —  a  grave,  though  still  not  irretrievable, 
jrror  of  the  campaign,  was  committed  at  the  outset.  Gen. 
Burnside  had  done  at  Newbern,  on  the  14th  of  the  previous 
rconth,  what  was  incomparably  more  difficult,  in  carrying  the 
ivorks  of  the  enemy,  when  manned  by  numbers  fully  equal  to 
lis  own.  His  forces,  too,  were  largely  made  up  of  raw  recruits. 
Fhe  Army  of  the  Potomac,  after  eight  months  spent  in  its  for- 
nation  and  discipline,  was  deemed  by  its  commander  inadequate 
o  force  its  way  through  the  line  of  fortifications  at  Yorktown, 
;hough  so  many  times  more  numerous  than  the  enemy.  Ma- 
Cruder  gained  the  opportunity  which  he  craved.  Davis  ordered 
Johnston  and  Beauregard  to  advance  from  Corinth,  on  the  3d 
)f  April,  to  crush  the  army  of  Grant  at  Pittsburg  Landing — 
ittle  dreaming  then,  as  may  well  be  supposed,  that  nearly 
:hree  months  would  elapse  before  their  presence  would  be 
.ndispensable  at  Richmond.  The  slow  processes  of  a  regular 
siege  began  in  front  of  the  little  army  of  Magruder.  Thou- 
sands sickened  and  died  in  the  trenches.  The  nation  grew 
smeary  of  the  same  disheartening  news,  day  by  day,  and  week 
ifter  week.  Finally,  the  siege  batteries  were  prepared  to 
be*gin ;  and  the  enemy,  though  now  strengthened  by  all  the  aid 
that  thirty  days  could  bring,  was  found  to  have  deserted  his 


352  LIFE   OF   ABRAHAM   LINCOLN. 

works  the  moment  an  earnest  attack  was  believed  to  be  immi- 
nent. 

To  the  President's  dispatch  of  April  6,  Gen.  McClellan  had 
little  else  to  reply  than  by  extravagant  representations  of  the 
enemy's  strength,  with  a  corresponding  disparagement  of  his 
own,  followed  by  complaining  entreaties  for  reinforcements 
that  could  not  be  furnished.  In  this  response,  he  also  said : 
"  Under  the  circumstances  that  have  been  developed  since  we 
arrived  here,  I  feel  fully  impressed  with  the  conviction  that 
here  is  to  be  fought  the  great  battle  that  is  to  decide  the  exist- 
ing contest." 

So  persistent  was  McClellan  in  these  complaints  and 
demands,  that  Mr.  Lincoln  felt  constrained  to  address  to  him 
the  following  frank  and  kindly  letter,  plainly  rehearsing  the 
facts  and  reasons  of  the  case,  and  again  pointedly  indicating 
the  grand  necessity  of  the  hour : 

WASHINGTON,  April  9,  1862. 

MY  DEAR  SIR:  Your  dispatches,  complaining  that  you  are 
no>  properly  sustained,  while  they  do  not  offend  me,  do  pain 
me  very  much. 

Blenker's  division  was  withdrawn  from  you  before  you  left 
herb,  and  you  know  the  pressure  under  which  I  did  it,  and,  as 
I  thought,  acquiesced  in  it  —  certainly  rot  without  reluctance. 

After  you  left,  I  ascertained  that  less  than  twenty  thousand 
unorganized  men,  without  a  single  field  battery,  were  all  you 
designed  to  be  left  for  the  defense  of  Washington  and  Manassas 
Junction,  and  part  of  this  even  was  to  go  to  Gen.  Hooker's 
old  position.  General  Banks'  corps,  once  designed  for  Manas- 
sas Junction,  was  diverted  and  tied  up  on  the  line  of  Win- 
chester and  Strasburgh,  and  could  not  leave  it  without  again 
exposing  the  Upper  Potomac  and  the  Baltimore  and  Ohio 
Railroad.  This  presented,  or  would  present,  when  McDowell 
and  Sumner  should  be  gone,  a  great  temptation  to 'the  enemy 
to  turn  back  from  the  Rappahannock  and  sack  Washington. 
My  implicit  order  that  Washington  should,  by  the  judgment 
of  all  the  commanders  of  army  corps,  be  left  entirely  secure, 
had  been  neglected.  It  was  precisely  this  that  drove  me  to 
detain  McDowell. 

I  do  not  forget  that  I  was  satisfied  with  your  arrangement 
to  leave  Banks  at  Manassas  Junction  :  but  when  that  arrange- 
ment was  broken  up,  and  nothing  was  substituted  for  it,  of 


LIFE   OF   ABRAHAM   LINCOLN.  353 

course  I  was  constrained  to  substitute  something  for  it  myself. 
And  allow  me  to  ask,  do  you  really  think  I  should  permit  the 
line  from  Richmond,  via  Manassas  Junction,  to  this  city,  to  be 
entirely  open,  except  what  resistance  could  be  presented  by  less 
than  twenty  thousand  unorganized  troops  ?  This  is  a  question 
•which  the  country  will  not  allow  me  to  evade. 

There  is  a  curious  mystery  about  the  number  of  troops  now 
with  you.  When  I  telegraphed  you  on  the  6th,  saying  you 
had  over  a  hundred  thousand  with  you,  I  had  just  obtained 
from  the  Secretary  of  War  a  statement  taken,  as  he  said,  from 
your  own  returns,  making  one  hundred  and  eight  thousand 
then  with  you  and  en  route  to  you.  You  now  say  you  will 
have  but  eighty-five  thousand  when  all  en  route  to  you  shall 
have  reached  you.  How  can  the  discrepancy  of  twenty-three 
thousand  be  accounted  for? 

As  to  General  Wool's  command,  I  understand  it  is  doing  for 
you  precisely  what  a  like  number  of  your  own  would  have  to 
do  if  that  command  was  away. 

I  suppose  the  whole  force  which  has  gone  forward  for  you 
is  with  you  by  this  time.  And  if  so.  I  think  it  is  the  precise 
time  for  you  to  strike  a  blow.  By  delay,  the  enemy  will  rela- 
tively gain  upon  you — that  is,  he  will  gain  faster  by  fortifica- 
tions and  reinforcements  than  you  can  by  reinforcements  alone. 
And  once  more  let  me  tell  you,  it  is  indispensable  to  you  that 
you  strike  a  blow.  I  am  powerless  to  help  this.  You  will  do 
me  the  justice  to  remember  I  always  insisted  that  going  down 
the  bay  in  search  of  a  field,  instead  of  fighting  at  or  near 
Manassas,  was  only  shifting,  and  not  surmounting,  a  difficulty  ; 
that  we  would  find  the  same  enemy,  and  the  same  or  equal 
intrenchments.  at  either  place.  The  country  will  not  fail  to 
note,  is  now  noting,  that  the  present  hesitation  to  move  upon 
an  intrenched  enemy  is  but  the  story  of  Manassas  repeated. 

I  beg  to  assure  you  that  I  have  never  written  you  or  spoken 
to  you  in  greater  kindness  of  feeling  than  now,  nor  with  a 
fuller  purpose  to  sustain  you,  so  far  as,  in  my  most  anxious 
judgment,  I  consistently  can.  But  you  must  act. 

Yours,  very  truly,  A.  LINCOLN. 

Maj.-Gen.  McCLELLAN. 

Gen.  McClellan,  in  the  early  part  of  that  report,  in  which  he 
has  given  his  own  rhetorical  coloring  to  his  operations,  as  a 
military  commander,  quotes,  without  contradiction  or  objection, 
the  following  statement  of  Mr.  Tucker,  Assistant  Secretary  of 
War,  showing  that  he  had  landed  at  Fortress  Monroe,  by  the 
Gth  day  of  April,  (having  received  the  final  order  as  early  as 
30 


354  LIFE   OF   ABRAHAM   LINCOLN. 

the  28th  of  February),  121, 500  men  for  McClellan,  with  a  num- 
ber of  wagons  and  animals  manifestly  well  proportioned  to  these 
numbers : 

In  thirty-seven  days  from  the  time  I  received  the  order 
in  Washington  (and  most  of  it  was  accomplished  in  thirty 
days),  these  vessels  transported  from  Perryville,  Alexandria, 
and  Washington  to  Fort  Monroe  (the  place  of  departure 
having  been  changed,  which  caused  delay)  one  hundred  and 
twenty -one  thousand  five  hundred  men,  fourteen  thousand  five 
hundred  and  ninety-two  animals,  one  thousand  one  hundred 
and  fifty  wagons,  forty-four  batteries,  seventy-four  arnbu- 
lauces,  besides  pontoon  bridges,  telegraph  materials,  and  the 
enormous  quantity  of  equipage,  etc.,  required  for  an  army  of 
such  magnitude. 

And  yet  McClellan  telegraphed  to  the  President  on  the  7th 
of  April :  "  My  entire  force  for  duty  only  amounts  to  85,000." 
Six  days  later,  before  receiving  reinforcements,  McClellan  him- 
self reported  his  force  (as  officially  certified  by  Adj. -Gen. 
Thomas,)  to  be  117,721,  of  whom  100,970  were  present  for 
duty.  In  addition  to  this  was  the  considerable  force  of  Gen. 
Wool,  on  which  he  was  authorized  to  draw  at  will.  McDowell's 
command,  also,  so  far  as  practicable,  was  put  in  a  position  for 
at  once  sustaining  him  and  covering  Washington. 

.To  Gen.  McClellau's  earnest  appeal  for  Gen.  Franklin's  di- 
vision, on  the  10th  of  April,  Secretary  Stanton  replied  on  the 
following  day,  granting  this  request.  At  the  same  date,  McClel- 
lan telegraphed  :  "  Nothing  is  left  undone  to  enable  us  to  attack 
with  the  least  possible  delay.  *  *  There  shall  not  be  a  moment's 
unnecessary  delay  in  any  of  the  operations  here."  On  the  12th, 
he  sends  thanks  for  the  promised  reinforcements,  and  adds  :  "  I 
am  confident  as  to  results  now."  On  the  13th,  he  says  :  "Our 
work  is  progressing  rapidly.  We  shall  soon  be  at  them,  and  I 
am  sure  of  the  result."  On  the  14th  :  "We  are  getting  up 
the  heavy  guns,  mortars  and  ammunition  quite  rapidly."  To 
the  President  he  telegraphed  at  the  same  date  :  "  I  have  seen 
Gen.  Franklin,  and  beg  to  thank  you  for  your  kindness  and 
consideration.  I  now  understand  the  matter,  which  I  did  not 
before." 


LIFE   OF   ABRAHAM   LINCOLN.  355 

From  day  to  day,  his  dispatches  continued  to  hold  out  the 
expectation  of  almost  immediate  results,  yet  nothing  of  conse- 
quence occurred  for  many  days,  save  an  unfortunate  skirmish 
at  Lee's  Mill,  on  the  16th,  in  which  35  were  killed  and  130 
wounded,  without  any  advantage  gained.  McClellan  inquiring 
in  regard  to  the  position  of  McDowell,  the  President  sent  the 
following  reply  on  the  21st:  "Your  dispatch  of  the  19th  was 
received  that  day.  Fredericksburg  is  evacuated  and  the  bridge 
destroyed  by  the  enemy,  and  a  small  part  of  McDowell's  com- 
mand occupies  this  side  of  the  Rappahannock  opposite  the  town. 
He  purposes  moving  his  whole  force  to  that  point."  On  the 
23d,  McClellan  reported :  "  Recent  rains  have  injured  the  roads 
and  delayed  us,  but  we  are  making  progress  all  the  time."  On 
the  26th,  a  lunette  (of  the  enemy's  works)  was  carried,  and  on 
the  27th,  the  "  first  parallel  essentially  finished  without  acci- 
dent," but  the  roads  were  "  becoming  horrid  again." 

The  total  number  of  McClellan's  force,  On  the  30th  of  April, 
as  officially  given  by  Asst.  Adj. -Gen.  Townsend,  was  130,37(8, 
of  whom  112,392  are  reported  as  "effective."  This  includes 
the  division  under  Gen.  Franklin,  which  had  arrived  several 
days  before,  but  still  remained  on  the  transports. 

Nearly  a  month  had  now  passed,  in  the  manner  indicated  by 
the  dispatches  above  quoted — fair  samples  of  all — when  there 
came  a  request  for  additional  guns,  which  drew  from  the  Presi- 
dent the  following  response : 
<\rt.  .^t'on*  7*4.;  l.*ud.  .-4f?vT)«  *  KM 

EXECUTIVE  MANSION,  WASHINGTON,     j 
May  1,  1862.  j" 

Maj.-Gen.  MCCLELLAN:  Your  call  for  Parrott  guns  from 
Washington  alarms  me — chiefly  because  it  argues  indefinite 
procrastination.  Is  any  thing  to  be  done  ? 

A.  LINCOLN. 

Two  days  later,  on  the  night  of  May  3d,  the  enemy  evacua- 
ted his  works. 

The  siege  of  Yorktown,  without  a  close  investment,  which 
was  not  attempted,  if  ever  contemplated,  could  have  no  other 
than  barren  results,  unless  the  retreating  enemy  were  promptly 
pursued.  For  this,  his  movement  was  not  soon  enough  dis- 


356  LIFE   OF   ABRAHAM    LINCOLN. 

covered.  Here  was,  indeed,  as  the  President  had  dreaded, 
"  the  story  of  Manassas  repeated" — if  that  opinion  may  he 
hazarded  in  the  face  of  Gen.  McClellan's  positive  claim  of 
a  "brilliant  success."  His  first  announcement  of  the  evacua- 
tion was  in  the  following  dispatch  : 

HEADQUARTERS  ARMY  OF  THE  POTOMAC, 

May  4,  9  A.  M.  x 
To  the  Hon.  EDWIN  M.  STANTON,  Secretary  of  War  :  'We 
have  the  ramparts.  Have  guns,  ammunition,  camp  equipage, 
etc.  We  hold  the  entire  line  of  his  works,  which  the  engineers 
report  as  being  very  strong.  I  have  thrown  all  my  cavalry 
and  horse-artillery  in  pursuit,  supported  by  infantry.  I  move 
Franklin's  division,  and  as  much  more  as  I  can  transport  by 
water,  up  to  West  Point  to-day.  No  time  shall  be  lost.  The 
gunboats  have  gone  up  York  river.  I  omitted  to  state  that 
Gloucester  is  also,  in  our  possession.  I  shall  push  the  enemy 
to  the  wall. 

G.    B.    McCLELLAN, 

L^V  M«orGel"™1- 

At  1  o'clock,  on  the  same  day,  McClellan  telegraphed  as 
follows : 

Our  cavalry  and  horse-artillery  came  up  with  the  enemy's 
rear  guard  in  their  intrenchments  about  two  miles  this  side  of 
Williamsburg.  A  brisk  fight  ensued.  Just  as  my  aid  left, 
Gen.  Smith's  division  of  infantry  arrived  on  the  ground,  and  I 
presume  he  carried  his  works,  though  I  have  not  yet  heard. 

The  enemy's  rear  is  strong,  but  I  have  force  enough  up 
there  to  answer  all  purposes. 

We  have  thus  far  seventy-one  heavy  guns,  large  amounts  of 
tents,  ammunition,  etc.  All  along  the  lines  their  works  prove 
to  have  been  most  formidable,  and  I  am  now  fully  satisfied  of 
the  correctness  of  the  course  I  have  pursued. 

The  success  is  brilliant,  and  you  may  rest  assured  its  effects 
will  be  of  the  greatest  importance.  There  shall  be  no  delay 
in  following  up  the  enemy.  The  rebels  have  been  guilty  of 
the  most  murderous  and  barbarous  conduct  in  placing  torpe- 
does within  the  abandoned  works,  near  Mill  Springs,  near  the 
flag-staffs,  magazines,  telegraph-offices,  in  carpet-bags,  barrels 
of  flour,  etc. 

Fortunately  we  have  not  lost  many  men  in  this  manner. 
Some  four  or  five  have  been  killed  and  a  dozen  wounded.  I 
shall  make  the  prisoners  remove  them  at  their  own  peril. 


LIFE   OF   ABRAHAM   LINCOLN.  357 

His  dispatches  of  the  next  day  are  less  joyous  in  their  tone. 
It  is  '.'raining  hard,"  and  he  pronounces  the  "roads  infamous" 
and  "  horrible."  An  important  engagement  was  fought  this 
day,  of  which  he  had  apparently  gained  imperfect  knowledge 
when  sending  the  following  dispatch,  late  in  the  evening : 

BIVOUAC  IN  FRONT  OF  WILLIAMSBURG, 

May  5,  1862,  10  o'clock  P.  M. 

Hon.  E.  M.  ST ANTON,  Secretary  of  War :  After  arranging 
for  movements  up  York  river,  I  was  urgently  sent  for  here.  I 
find  Gen.  Joe  Johnston  in  front  of  me  in  strong  force,  proba- 
bly greater  a  good  deal  than  my  own. 

Gen.  Hancock  has  taken  two  redoubts  and  repulsed  Early's 
Rebel  brigade,  by  a  real  charge  with  the  bayonet,  taking  one 
Colonel  and  a  hundred  and  fifty  other  prisoners,  and  killing  at 
least  two  Colonels  and  many  privates.  His  conduct  was  bril- 
liant in  the  extreme. 

I  do  not  know  our  exact  loss,  but  fear  that  Gen.  Hooker  has 
lost  considerably  on  our  left. 

I  learn  from  the  prisoners  taken  that  the  Rebels  intend  to 
dispute  every  step  to  Richmond. 

I  shall  run  the  risk  of  at  least  holding  them  in  check  here, 
while  I  resume  the  original  plan. 

My  entire  force  is  undoubtedly  inferior  to  that  of  the  Rebels, 
who  will  fight  well ;  but  I  will  do  all  I  can  with  the  force  at 
my  disposal.  G.  B.  McCLELLAN, 

Major-General  Commanding, 
fc  !t  VM  ^n'^Tq-^ffeffS^pr-r  ;•  ^>  .4  .it">i>  lo  Mp; 

Gen.  Stoneman  had  promptly  moved  his  cavalry  and  horse- 
artillery,  on  receiving  the  order  for  pursuit,  on  the  morning  of 
the  4th.  He  first  found  the  enemy  within  his  works,  two  miles 
east  of  \Villiamsburg,  and  being  unsustained  by  infantry,  was 
forced  to  retreat,  with  some  loss,  on  being  attacked  by  the  guns 
of  Fort  Magruder.  During  the  afternoon  and  night,  the  divi- 
sions of  Gens.  Smith  and  Hooker  arrived  on  the  ground — twelve 
or  fourteen  miles  distant  from  Yorktown — as  well  as  the  corps 
commanders,  Sumner,  Heintzelman  and  Keyes.  No  portion  of 
General  Sumner's  force  was  yet  present,  but,  as  the  senior  offi- 
cer, he  assumed  command,  and  ordered  an  attack  on  the  Rebel 
works,  in  the  evening,  by  Smith's  division.  Night,  however, 
came  on  before  the  order  could  be  executed.  During  the  night, 
Sumner  posted  Hancock's  brigade,  of  that  division,  in  a  strong 


358  LIFE    OF   ABRAHAM   LINCOLN. 

position  on  the  left.  Hooker's  division,  by  order  of  Gen. 
Heintzelman,  had  taken  position  on  the  Lee's  Mill  road,  coming 
near  Fort  Magruder  quite  early  in  the  morning.  At  half  past 
7  o'clock,  Hooker  began  an  attack  on  the  works  in  his 
front.  The  enemy  gathered  in  superior  force  at  this  point, 
and  the  contest  continued  for  hours,  Gen.  Heintzelman  anx- 
iously awaiting  the  appearance  of  Kearney's  division,  which 
he  had  sent  for  in  the  morning.  A  heavy  rain  had  commenced 
the  night  before,  which  continued  until  the  following  morning, 
impeding  the  movement  of  troops,  but  not  interrupting  the 
determined  purpose  to  carry  the  enemy's  works.  Hooker  had 
suffered  serious  loss,  his  ammunition  was  giving  out,  and  his 
troops  were  becoming  exhausted,  when  at  length,  after  3 
o'clock,  Gen  Kearney  arrived  with  his  men,  and  was  ordered  by 
Heintzelman  at  once  to  attack,  which  he  did  so  vigorously  as 
to  drive  the  enemy  back  at  all  points,  and  to  relieve  Hooker, 
whose  left  flank  was  in  imminent  danger. 

On  the  right,  also,  the  enemy  massed  troops  against  Han- 
cock, who  kept  up  a  gallant  fight  to  maintain  his  position, 
without  the  reenforcement  which  Gen.  Sumner  was  unwilling 
to  hazard  his  center  by  sending  him,  until  after  the  arrival  of 
part  of  Couch's  division,  at  1  o'clock,  which  was  followed  by 
the  remainder  during  the  afternoon,  and  by  Casey's  division,  so 
that  the  entire  corps  of  Gen.  Keyes  was  finally  present,  on  the 
right  and  center.  Hancock  was  on  the  point  of  being  over- 
whelmed by  greatly  superior  numbers,  when  the  remainder  of 
Smith's  division,  and  Naglee's  brigade  from  Hooker's  division, 
were  sent  to  his  support,  under  the  orders  of  McClellan,  who 
arrived  on  the  ground,  as  he  states  in  his  report,  "  between 
4  and  5  o'clock  in  the  afternoon.  Meanwhile,  Gen.  Han- 
cock, feigning  to  retreat  slowly,  drew  out  the  enemy  from  their 
position,  then  turning  suddenly,  staggered  them  by  volleys  of 
musketry,  and  completed  their  rout  by  a  brilliant  bayonet 
charge,  with  a  loss  to  the  enemy  of  more  than  five  hundred, 
bis  own  loss  being  but  thirty-one  men. 

The  brunt  of  the  battle  had  been  sustained  by  the  divisions 
of  Hooker  and  Kearney,  under  Gen.  Heintzelman.  The 
former  sustained  the  principal  losses  of  the  day,  which  were 


LIFE    OP   ABRAHAM   LINCOLN.  359 

officially  stated  at  456  killed,  1,400  wounded,  and  372  missing. 
This  earnest  and  gallant  battle,  fought  almost  entirely  without 
the  knowledge  of  the  commanding  General,  illustrates  what 
was  reasonably  expected  at  the  very  outset  at  Yorktown.  It 
seems  hardly  too  much  to  say  that  it  may  have  saved  another 
month's  siege  at  Williamsburg,  where  the  position  was  perhaps 
even  more  favorable  for  defense  than  that  at  Yorktown,  and 
where  the  enemy  had  a  very  much  greater  force  than  was 
originally  at  the  latter  place.  As  a  result  of.  this  battle,  the 
enemy  retired  from  Williamsburg  that  night,  and  continued  his 
retreat  up  the  Peninsula.  No  immediate  pursuit  was  attempted. 

Gen.  McClellan  was  exceedingly  dissatisfied  with  Sumner  and 
the  other  corps  commanders  for  venturing  this  engagement  in 
his  absence.  In  his  first  dispatch  he  notices  only  the  movement 
of  Hancock  as  a  success.  He  names  only  Hooker  besides,  and 
him  merely  to  refer  to  his  losses.  He  afterward  made  some 
imperfect  amends  to  Gen.  Heintzelman  and  others,  under  re- 
monstrance, but  apparently  with  grudging  reluctance,  and  even 
in  his  final  report,  after  his  resentment  had  ample  time  to  cool, 
he  stops  short  with  the  praise  of  Hancock,  giving  little  credit 
to  those  who  had  done  the  chief  work.  On  occupying  Wil- 
liamsburg, the  next  day  he  announced:  "  The  victory  is  com- 
plete," stating  that  the  enemy  lost  heavily  in  killed. 

The  division  under  Gen.  Franklin  had  been  pushed  forward 
by  water  to  the  right  bank  of  the  Pamunkey  river,  opposite  West 
Point,  and  this  movement  was  sustained  by  the  divisions  of 
Gens.  Sedgwick,  Porter  and  "Richardson,  also  transported  in 
steamers.  Franklin  landed  his  troops  on  the  morning  of  the 
7th,  and  Dana's  brigade  (of  Sedgwick's  division)  arrived  soon 
after.  These  forces  were  attacked  at  9  o'clock  in  the  morning 
by  a  formidable  Rebel  force,  and  the  battle  lasted  until  3 
o'clock  in  the  afternoon,  when  the  enemy  was  finally  repulsed. 
Meanwhile,  time  had  been  gained  for  the  main  Rebel  force  to 
retreat  unmolested,  and  with  security  to  its  trains.  Franklin 
made  a  successful  defense,  only,  instead  of  accomplishing  any 
aggressive  results.  His  total  loss  is  reported  as  194,  including 
a  large  proportion  of  officers. 

Communication  between  Williamsburg  and  West  Point  was 


360  LIFE  OP  ABRAHAM  LINCOLN. 

fully  opened  on  the  10th.  "  Movements  were  difficult  and 
slow."  In  the  mean  time,  Norfolk  had  heen  taken  by  Gen. 
Wool,  and  the  Merrimac  finally  "  neutralized."  At  this  period, 
the  President  and  Secretary  of  War — as  well  as  the  Secretary 
of  the  Treasury,  who  had  accompanied  Gen.  Wool  in  his 
advance  on  Norfolk — were  on  a  visit  at  Fortress  Monroe.  It 
was  while  here  that  the  Secretary  of  War  received  the  follow- 
ing dispatch  from  Gen.  McClellan,  dated  May  9  : 

To  Hon.  E.  M.  STANTON,  Secretary  of  War :  I  respectfully 
ask  permission  to  reorganize  the  Army  Corps.  I  am  not  will- 
ing to  be  held  responsible  for  the  present  arrangement,  expe 
rience  having  proved  it  to  be  very  bad,  and  it  having  nearly 
resulted  in  a  most  disastrous  defeat.  I  wish  rather  to  return 
to  the  organization  by  divisions,  or  else  to  be  authorized  to 
relieve  incompetent  commanders  of  Army  Corps.  Had  I  been 
one-half  hour  later  on  the  field  on  the  5th,  we  would  have  been 
routed  and  would  have  lost  every  thing.  Notwithstanding  my 
positive  orders,  I  was  informed  of  nothing  that  had  occurred, 
and  I  went  to  the  field  of  battle  myself  upon  unofficial  infor- 
mation that  my  presence  was  needed  to  avoid  defeat.  I  found 
there  the  utmost  confusion  and  incompetency,  the  utmost  dis- 
couragement on  the  part  of  the  men.  At  least  a  thousand  lives 
were  really  sacrificed  by  the  organization  into  corps.  I  have 
too  much  regard  for  the  lives  of  my  comrades,  and  too  deep 
an  interest  in  the  success  of  our  cause,  to  hesitate  for  a  moment. 
I  learn  that  you  are  equally  in  earnest,  and  I  therefore  again 
request  full  and  complete  authority  to  relieve  from  duty  with 
this  army,  commanders  of  corps  or  divisions  who  find  them- 
selves incompetent.  G.  B.  McCLELLAN, 

Major-General  Commanding. 

Secretary  Stanton  replied,  in  substance  :  The  President 
directs  me  to  say  that  you  "  may  temporarily  suspend  that 
organization  in  the  army  now  under  your  immediate  command, 
and  adopt  any  you  see  fit  until  further  orders.  He  also  writes 
you  privately."  The  President's  letter,  thus  referred  to,  is  as 
follows : 

HEADQUARTERS  DEPARTMENT  OF  VIRGINIA,     | 
FORT  MONROE,  VA.,  May  9,  1862.  j 

Maj.-Gen.  McCLELLAN — My  Dear  Sir:  I  have  just  assisted 
the  Secretary  of  War  in  framing  the  part  of  a  dispatch  to  you 


LIFE   OF   ABRAHAM    LINCOLN.  361 

relating  to  Army  Corps,  which  dispatch,  of  course,  will  Lave 
reached  you  long  before  this  will.  I  wish  to  say  a  few  words 
to  you  privately  on  this  subject.  I  ordered  the  Army  Corps 
organization  not  only  on  the  unanimous  opinion  of  the  twelve 
generals  whom  you  had  selected  and  assigned  as  generals  of 
divisions,  but  also  on  the  unanimous  opinion  of  every  military 
man  I  could  get  an  opinion  from,  and  every  modern  military 
book,  yourself  only  exeepted.  Of  course,  I  did  not  on  my  own 
judgment  pretend  to  understand  the  subject.  I  now  think  it 
indispensable  for  you  to  know  how  your  struggle  against  it  is 
received  in  quarters  which  we  can  not  entirely  disregard.  It  is 
looked  upon  as  merely  an  effort  to  pamper  one  or  two  pets,  and 
to  persecute  and  degrade  their  supposed  rivals.  I  have  had  no 
word  from  Sumner,  Heintzelman,  or  Keyes  —  the  commanders 
of  these  corps  are,  of  course,  the  three  highest  officers  with  you  : 
but  I  am  constantly  told  that  you  have  no  consultation  or  com- 
munication with  them  ;  that  you  consult  and  communicate  with 
nobody  but  Gen.  Fitz  John  Porter,  and  perhaps  Gen.  Franklin. 
I  do  not  say  these  complaints  are  true  or  just ;  but  at  all  events, 
it  is  proper  you  should  know  of  their  existence.  Do  the  com- 
manders of  corps  disobey  your  orders  in  any  thing? 

When  you  relieved  Gen.  Hamilton  of  his  command  the  other 
day,  you  thereby  lost  the  confidence  of  at  least  one  of  your 
best  friends  in  the  Senate.  And  here  let  me  say,  not  as  appli- 
cable to  you  personally,  that  Senators  and  Representatives 
speak  of  me  in  their  places  as  they  please  without  question,  and 
that  officers  of  the  army  must  cease  addressing  insulting  letters 
to  them  for  taking  no  greater  liberty  with  them. 

But  to  return.  Are  you  strong  enough  —  are  you  strong 
enough  even  with  my  help — to  set  your  foot  upon  the  necks  of 
Sumner,  Heintzelraan  arid  Keyes  all  at  once?  This  is  a  prac- 
tical and  very  serious  question  to  you. 

The  success  of  your  army  and  the  cause  of  the  country  are 
the  same,  and  of  course  I  only  desire  the  good  of  the  cause. 
Yours  truly,  A.  LINCOLN. 

Gen.  McClellan  did  not  conclude  to  make  the  changes  which 
he  had  pronounced  so  indispensable.  On  the  contrary,  avail- 
ing himself  of  the  President's  permission,  he  soon  after  created 
two  new  corps — the  "  Fifth  Provisional  Corps,"  formed  of  the 
divisions  of  Porter  and  Sykes,  the  former  taken  from  the  corps 
of  Heintzelman,  and  the  latter  Regulars,  to  be  commanded  by 
Gen.  Fitz  John  Porter ;  and  the  "  Sixth  Provisional  Corps,1' 
consisting  of  Franklin's  division,  from  McDowell's  corps,  an*5 
31 


362  LIFE    OF   ABRAIIAM    LINCOLN. 

Smith's  division,  from  Keyes'  corps,  to  be  commanded  by  Gen. 
W.  B.  Franklin. 

The  headquarters  of  the  Army  of  the  Potomac  reached  the 
White  House  on  the  16th  of  May,  and  three  days  later  with 
the  corps  of  Franklin  and  Fitz  John  Porter,  had  advanced  to 
Tunstall's  Station,  five  miles  nearer  Richmond.  Complaints 
of  the  roads  and  requests  for  reinforcements  were  not  forgot- 
ten in  the  official  dispatches  of  this  period  ;  nor  had  the  Presi- 
dent schooled  himself  to  perfect  patience  with  the  slow  advance 
up  the  Peninsula,  when  he  thought  that  not  a  moment's  unne- 
cessary delay  should  occur  in  "  pushing  the  enemy  to  the 
wall."  On  the  14th,  Gen.  McClellan,  being  detained  by  bad 
roads,  took  occasion  to  send  a  long  dispatch,  representing  his 
wants  and  opinions,  to  which  the  President,  on  the  15th,  sent 
the  following  reply : 

Your  long  dispatch  of  yesterday  is  just  received.  I  will 
answer  more  fully  soon ;  will  say  HOW  that  all  your  dispatches 
to  the  Secretary  of  War  have  been  promptly  shown  to  me.  I 
have  done  and  shall  do  all  I  could  and  can  to  sustain  you.  I 
hoped  that  the  opening  of  James  river  and  putting  Wool  and 
Burnside  in  communication  with  an  open  road  to  Richmond  or 
to  you,  had  effected  something  in  that  direction.  I  am  still 
not  willing  to  take  all  our  force  off  the  direct  line  between 
Richmond  and  here. 

On  the  20th  of  May,  the  advance  reached  the  Chickahominy 
river,  and  found  Bottom's  Bridge,  across  that  stream,  as  well  as 
the  railroad  bridge,  a  mile  above,  destroyed  by  the  enemy. 
The  position  was  occupied,  and  the  reconstruction  of  the 
bridges  commenced.  The  river  being  fordable  at  this  time, 
Casey's  division  was  sent  across  the  river  and  ordered  to  throw 
up  defenses.  Gen.  Heintzelman's  entire  corps  was  also  thrown 
across,  in  support.  The  center  and  right  were  advanced  to  the 
left  bank  of  the  river.  On  the  24th,  the  extreme  right  occu- 
pied Mechanicsville,  and  one  of  the  brigades  (Naglee's)  of 
Heintzelman's  corps  drove  the  enemy  from  the  Seven  Pines,  on 
the  Bottom's  Bridge  road,  the  left  of  the  army  advancing  to 
that  position.  The  distance  from  the  Chickahominy  at  Bot- 
tom's Bridge  to  Richmond  is  about  twice  as  great  as  the  dis- 


LIFE   OF  ABRAHAM   LINCOLN.  363 

tance  to  Kichmond  from  the  same  stream  at  Mechanicsville. 
The  entire  line  now  extended  from  the  latter  point  to  Seven 
Pines,  about  half  way  from  the  river  to  Kichmond,  the  Chick- 
ahominy  flowing  between  the  left  and  the  right  and  center. 
This  stream,  here  about  forty  feet  in  width,  is  subject  to  sud- 
den variations  in  volume,  heavy  rains  causing  it  to  overflow 
the  bottom-lands  on  each  side,  and  rendering  it  impassable 
except  by  bridges — all  of  which,  in  this  vicinity,  had  been 
destroyed  by  the  enemy.  The  Meadow  Bridge  was  north  of 
Richmond,  near  the  Virginia  Central  railroad,  and  a  short 
distance  above  the  bridge  at  Mechanicsville.  The  third,  fol- 
lowing down  the  stream  six  or  seven  miles,  was  called  New 
Bridge,  and  was  a  less  distance  above  the  York  river  railroad 
bridge.  Between  Bottom's  Bridge  and  Mechanicsville,  McClel- 
lan  determined  to  construct  as  many  as  eleven  new  bridges. 

The  Rebel  line  of  defenses,  within  which  the  enemy  had 
retired,  commenced  nearly  opposite  Drewry's  Bluff,  on  the 
James  river,  and  bending  in  a  northeasterly  direction,  across 
the  York  river  railroad,  to  the  Chickahominy,  very  nearly  fol- 
lowed up  the  right  bank  of  that  stream.  The  diameter  of  this 
semi-circular  line  was  about  seven  miles,  from  the  center  at 
Richmond.  The  main  body  of  the  enemy,  it  appears,  was 
encamped  on  the  New  Bridge  road.  Gen.  Joseph  E.  Johnston 
was  still  in  command. 

By  instructions  from  the  War  Department,  issued  on  the  17th 
of  May,  Gen.  McDowell,  to  be  reenforced  by  Shields'  division, 
had  been  directed  to  establish  a  communication,  as  soon  as 
possible,  between  his  left  and  McClellan's  right.  Correspond- 
ing directions  were  sent  to  Gen.  McClellan.  A  gunboat  expe- 
dition up  the  James  river  had  meanwhile  been  repulsed  at  Fort 
Darling,  and  the  attempt  to  approach  Richmond  by^|hat  means 
had  been  effectually  abandoned.  On  the  21st,  McClellan  tele- 
graphed the  following,  with  many  other  matters,  to  the  Presi- 
dent : 

I  am  not  sure  that  I  fully  comprehend  your  orders  of  the  17th 
instant,  addressed  to  myself  and  Gen.  McDowell.  If  a  junction 
is  effected  before  we  occupy  Richmond,  it  must  necessarily  be 
east  of  the  railroad  to  Frederick sburg  and  within  my  depart- 


364  LIFE   OF   ABRAHAM    LINCOLN. 

ment.  This  fact,  my  superior  rank,  and  the  express  language 
of  the  sixty- second  article  of  war,  will  place  his  command 
under  my  orders,  unless  it  is  otherwise  specially  directed  by 
your  Excellency  ;  and  I  consider  that  he  will  be  under  my  com- 
mand, except  that  I  am  not  to  detach  any  portion  of  his  forces, 
or  give  any  orders  which  can  put  him  out  of  position  to  cover 
Washington.  If  I  err  in  naj  construction,  I  desire  to  be  at 
once  set  right.  Frankness  compels  me  to  say,  anxi6us  as  I  am 
for  an  increase  of  force,  that  the  march  of  McDowell's  column 
upon  Richmond  by  the  shortest  route  will,  in  my  opinion, 
uncover  Washington,  as  to  any  interposition  by  it,  as  com- 
pletely as  its  movement  by  water.  The  enemy  can  not  advance 
by  Fredericksburg  on  Washington.  Should  they  attempt  a 
movement,  which  to  me  seems  utterly  improbable,  their  route 
•would  be  by  Gordonsville  and  Manassas. 

The  President  replied  as  follows,  under  date  of  May  22 : 

Your  long  dispatch  of  yesterday  is  just  received.  You  will 
have  just  such  control  of  Gen.  McDowell  and  his  forces  as  you 
therein  indicate.  McDowell  can  reach  you  by  land  sooner  than 
he  could  get  aboard  of  boats,  if  the  boats  were  ready  at  Frede- 
ricksburg, unless  his  march  shall  be  resisted,  in  which  case  the 
force  resisting  him  will  certainly  not  be  confronting  you  at 
Richmond.  By  land  he  can  reach  you  in  five  days  after  start- 
ing ;  whereas  by  water  he  would  not  reach  you  in  two  weeks, 
judging  by  past  experience.  Franklin's  single  division  did  not 
reach  you  in  ten  days  after  I  ordered  it.  A.  LINCOLN. 

How  the  purpose  above  indicated  came  necessarily  to  be 
changed,  will  best  appear  from  the  two  following  dispatches : 

MAY  24,  1862. 

I  left  Gen.  McDowell's  camp  at  dark  last  evening.  Shields' 
command  is  there,  but  it  is  so  worn  that  he  can  not  move  before 
Monday  morning,  the  26th.  We  have  so  thinned  our  line  to 
get  troops  for  other  places,  that  it  was  broken  yesterday  al 
Front  Royfcl,  with  a  probable  loss  to  us  of  one  regiment 
infantry,  two  companies  cavalry,  putting  Gen.  Banks  in  some 
peril. 

The  enemy's  forces,  under  Gen.  Anderson,  now  opposing 
Gen.  McDowell's  advance,  have,  as  their  line  of  supply  an* 
retreat,  the  road  to  Richmond. 

If,  in  conjunction  with  McDowell's  movement  against  Ander- 
son, you  could  seud  a  fo-^c  from  your  right  to  cut  off  the  enc 
nay's  supplies  from  L  .i.ui^d,  preserve  the  railroad  bri'lj  •; 


LIFE  OF   ABRAHAM   LINCOLN.  365 

across  the  two  forks  of  the  Pamunkey  and  intercept  the  enemy's 
retreat,  you  will  prevent  the  army  now  opposed  to  you  from 
receiving  an  accession  of  numbers  of  nearly  15,000  men ;  and 
if  you  succeed  in  saving  the  bridges,  you  will  secure  a  line  of 
railroad  for  supplies  in  addition  to  the  one  you  now  have.  Can 
you  not  do  this  almost  as  well  as  not,  while  you  are  building 
the  Chickahominy  bridges  ?  McDowell  and  Shields  both  say 
they  can,  and  positively  will,  move  Monday  morning.  I  wish 
you  to  move  cautiously  and  safely. 

You  will  have  command  of  McDoWell,  after  he  joins  you, 
precisely  as  you  indicated  in  your  long  dispatch  to  us  of  the 
21st.  A.  LINCOLN. 

Maj.-Gen.  G.  B.  MCCLELLAN. 

McClellan,  in  his  report,  erroneously  gives  a  later  dispatch 
(dated  May  24)  as  the  President's  response  on  this  occasion. 

Intelligence  received  at  a  later  hour  on  the  same  day,  caused 
the  President  to  suspend  the  order  in  regard  to  Gen.  McDowell's 
movement,  as  the  subjoined  dispatch  indicated  to  McClellan : 

MAY  24,  1862. 

In  consequence  of  Gen.  Banks'  critical  position,  I  have  been 
compelled  to  suspend  Gen.  McDowell's  movements  to  join  you. 
The  enemy  are  making  a  desperate  push  upon  Harper's  Ferry, 
and  we  are  trying  to  throw  Gen.  Fremont's  force  and  part  of 
Gen.  McDowell's  in  their  rear.  A.  LINCOLN. 

To  this,  Gen.  McClellan  replied  :  "I  will  make  my  calcula- 
tions accordingly." 

The  next  dispatch  clearly  sets  forth,  the  situation  of-  affairs 
at  the  time : 

WASHINGTON,  May  25, 1862. 

Your  dispatch  received.  Gen.  Banks  was  at  Strasburg 
with  about  six  thousand  men,  Shields  having  been  taken  from 
him  to  swell  a  column  for  McDowell  to  aid  you  at  Richmond, 
and  the  rest  of  his  force  scattered  at  various  places.  On  the 
23d,  a  Rebel  force  of  seven  to  ten  thousand  fell  upon  one  regi- 
ment and  two  companies  guarding  the  bridge  at  Port  Royal, 
destroying  it  entirely ;  crossed  the  Shenandoah,  and  on  the  24th, 
yesterday,  pushed  on  to  get  north  of  Banks  on  the  road  to 
Winchester.  Gen.  Banks  ran  a  race  with  them,  beating  them 
into  Winchester  yesterday  evening.  This  morning  a  battle 
ensued  between  the  two  forces,  in  which  Gen.  Banks  was  beaten 
back  into  full  retreat  toward  Martinsburg,  and  probably  is 


366  LIFE  OP  ABRAHAM  LINCOLN. 

broken  up  into  a  total  rout.  Geary,  on  the  Manassas  Gap  rail- 
road, just  now  reports  that  Jackson  is  now  near  Front  Royal 
with  ten  thousand  troops,  following  up  and  supporting,  as  I 
understand,  the  force  now  pursuing  Banks.  Also,  that  another 
force  often  thousand  is  near  Orleans,  following  on  in  the  same 
direction.  Stripped  bare,  as  we  are  here,  I  will  do  all  we  can  to 
prevent  them  crossing  the  Potomac  at  Harper's  Ferry  or  above. 
McDowell  has  about  twenty  thousand  of  his  forces  moving  back 
to  the  vicinity  of  Port  Royal ;  and  Fremont,  who  was  at  Frank- 
lin, is  moving  to  Harrisonburg ;  both  these  movements 
intended  to  get  in  the  enemy's  rear. 

One  more  of  McDowell's  brigades  is  ordered  through  here 
to  Harper's  Ferry;  the  rest  of  his  forces  remain  for  the  present 
at  Fredericksburg.  We  are  sending  such  regiments  and  dribs 
from  here  and  Baltimore  as  we  can  spare  to  Harper's  Ferry, 
supplying  their  places  in  some  sort,  calling  in  militia  from  the 
adjacent  States.  We  also  have  eighteen  cannon  on  the  ro£d  to 
Harper's  Ferry,  of  which  arm  there  is  not  a  single  one  at  that 
point.  This  is  now  our  situation. 

If  McDowell's  force  was  now  beyond  our  reach,  we  should 
be  entirely  helpless.  Apprehensions  of  something  like  this, 
and  no  unwillingness  to  sustain  you,  has  always  been  my  reason 
for  withholding  McDowell's  forces  from  you. 

Please  understand  this,  and  do  the  best  you  can  with  the 
forces  you  have.  A.  LINCOLN. 

Maj.-Gen.  McCLELLAN. 

Later,  on  the  same  day,  the  President  sent  the  following  : 

WASHINGTON,  May  25,  1862. 

Maj.-Gen.  McCLELLAN:  The  enemy  is  moving  north  in  suffi- 
cient force  to  drive  Banks  before  him — in  precisely  what  force 
we  can  not  tell.  He  is  also  threatening  Leesburg  and  Geary  on 
the  Manassas  Gap  railroad,  from  both  north  and  south,  in  pre- 
cisely what  force  we  can  not  tell.  I  think  the  movement  is  a 
general  and  concerted  one,  such  as  could  not  be  if  he  was  act- 
ing upon  the  purpose  of  a  very  desperate  defense  of  Rich- 
mond. I  think  the  time  is  near  when  you  must  either  attack 
Richmond  or  give  up  the  job,  and  come  to  the  defense  of 
Washington.  Let  me  hear  from  you  instantly. 

A.  LINCOLN. 

On  the  same  day,  McClellan  replied  :  "  Telegram  received. 
Independently  of  it,  the  time  is  very  near  when  I  shall  attack 
Richmond.  The  object  of  the  movement  is  probably  to  pre- 


LIFE  OP  ABRAHAM  LINCOLN.  367 

vent  reinforcements  being  sent  to  me I  have  two  corps 

across  the  Chickahominy,  within  six  miles  of  Richmond ;  the 
ethers  on  this  side  at  other  crossings  within  the  same  distance, 
and  ready  to  cross  when  bridges  are  completed." 

Gen.  Stoneman  was  sent  out  with  a  small  cavalry  force  to  cut 
the  Virginia  Central  railroad  between  the  Chickahominy  and 
Hanover  Court  House.  This  is  the  eastern  one  of  two  lines 
of  railroad  from  Richmond,  both  of  which  meet  at  Hanover 
Junction,  several  miles  beyond  the  Court  House.  The  other 
extends  nearly  due  north  from  Richmond  to  Fredericksburg  and 
Acquia  Creek.  Both  roads  cross  the  South  Anna  river  a  few 
miles  south  of  their  junction,  and  at  no  great  distance  apart. 
To  have  destroyed  both  the  South  Anna  bridges  of  these  roads 
would  have  cut  the  enemy's  direct  communications  with  the 
forces  in  the  Valley,  and  with  those  resisting  McDowell's  ad- 
vance southward.  In  cutting  only  one  of  these  roads,  several 
miles  south  of  the  South  Anna,  very  little  was  effected.  The 
President  anxiously  telegraphed,  on  the  26th :  "  Can  you  not 
cut  the  Acquia  Creek  railroad  also  ?  What  impression  have 
you  as  to  the  intrenched  works  for  you  to  contend  with  in 
front  of  Richmond  ?  Can  you  get  near  enough  to  throw  sheila 
into  the  city?"  McClellan  replied  (on  the  same  day)  that  he 
had  "  cut  the  Virginia  Central  railroad  in  three  places,  between 
Hanover  Court  House  and  the  Chickahominy,"  and  would  "try 
to  cut  the  other."  To  the  other  questions  of  the  President,  he 
replied  :  "  I  do  not  think  Richmond  intrenchments  formidable ; 
but  am  not  certain.  Hope  very  soon  to  be  within  shelling 
distance.  Have  railroad  in  operation  from  White  House  to 
Chickahominy.  Hope  to  have  Chickahominy  bridge  repaired 
to-night.  Nothing  of  interest  to-day."  Later,  he  telegraphed 
as  follows : 

CAMP  NEAR  NEW  BRIDGE,     ") 
May  26,  1862,  7.30  P.  M.  } 

Have  arranged  to  carry  out  your  last  orders.  We  are  quietly 
closing  in  upon  the  enemy,  preparatory  to  the  last  struggle. 
Situated  as  I  am,  I  feel  forced  to  take  every  possible  precaution 
against  disaster,  and  to  secure  my  flanks  against  the  probably 
superior  force  in  front  of  me.  My  arrangements  for  to-morrow 


368  LIFE   OF    ABRAHAM    LINCOLN. 

are  very  important,  and  if  successful,  will  leave  me  free  to 
strike  on  the  return  of  the  force  detached. 

Gr.  B.  MCCLELLAN,  Major-General. 
His  Excellency,  A.  LINCOLN,  President. 

On  the  27th,  Fitz  John  Porter,  with  the  Fifth  Corps,  was  sent 
to  disperse  a  Rebel  force  near  Hanover  Court  House,  threat- 
ening the  communications  of  our  army,  and  in  a  position  to 
reenforce  Jackson  or  to  interfere  with  any  southward  move- 
ment of  McDowell.  This  force  was  Branch's  division,  esti- 
mated to  have  been  about  nine  thousand  strong.  Porter's 
corps,  without  needing  the  aid  of  Sykes'  division  of  Regulars, 
sent  to  his  support  on  the  28th,  broke  up  the  Rebel  camp,  and 
dispersed  Branch's  force.  The  result  was  thus  announced  by 
the  Commanding  General : 

Porter's  action  of  yesterday  was  truly  a  glorious  victory ;  too 
much  credit  can  not  be  given  to  his  magnificent  division  and  its 
accomplished  leader.  The  rout  of  the  rebels  was  complete ; 
not  a  defeat,  but  a  complete  rout.  Prisoners  are  constantly 
coming  in ;  two  companies  have  this  moment  arrived  with 
excellent  arms. 

The  President,  after  receiving  this  and  other  glowing  dis- 
patches on  the  subject,  as  well  as  repeated  demands  for  reen- 
forcements  on  the  ground  that  all  the  Rebel  forces  were  con- 
centrating at  Richmond,  sent  the  following  : 

WASHINGTON,  May  28,  1862. 

I  am  very  glad  of  Gen.  F.  J.  Porter's  victory  ;  still,  if  it  was 
,a  total  rout  of  the  enemy,  I  am  puzzled  to  know  why  the  Rich- 
mond and  Fredericksburg  railroad  was  not  seized  again,  as  you 
say  you  have  all  the  railroads  but  the  Richmond  and  Frede- 
ricksburg. I  am  puzzled  to  see  how,  lacking  that,  you  can  have 
any,  except  the  scrap  froin  Richmond  to  West  Point.  The 
scrap  of  the  Virginia  Central,  from  Richmond  to  Hanover 
Junction,  without  more,  is  simply  nothing.  That  the  whole 
of  the  enemy  is  concentrating  on  Richmond,  I  think,  car.  not 
be  certainly  known  to  you  or  me.  Saxton,  at  Harper's  Ferry, 
informs  us  that  large  forces,  supposed  to  be  Jackson's  and 
Ewell's,  forced  his  advance  from  Charjestown  to-day.  Gen. 
King  telegraphs  us  from  Fredericksburg  that  contrabands  give 
certain  information  that  fifteen  thousand  left  Hanover  June- 


LIFE   OF   ABRAHAM    LINCOLN.  369 

tion  Monday  morning  to  reenforce  Jackson.  I  am  painfully 
impressed  with  the  importance  of  the  struggle  before  you,  and 
shall  aid  you  all  I  can  consistently  with  my  view  of  due  regard 
to  all  points.  A.  LINCOLN. 

Maj.-Gen.  McCLELLAN. 

On  the  29th,  Gen.  Marcy  (chief  of  McClellan's  staff)  sent 
the  following  dispatch  to  the  Secretary  of  War : 

A  detachment  from  Gen.  F.  J.  Porter's  command,  nnder 
Major  Williams,  Sixth  Cavalry,  destroyed  the  South  Anna 
railroad  bridge  at  about  9  A.  M.  to-day ;  a  large  quantity  of 
Confederate  public  property  was  also  destroyed  at  Ashland  this 
morning. 

The  President  replied : 

WASHINGTON,  May  29,  1862. 

Your  dispatch  as  to  the  South  Anna  and  Ashland  being 
seized  by  our  forces  this  morning  is  received.  Understanding 
these  points  to  be  on  the  Richmond  and  Fredericksburg  rail- 
road, I  heartily  congratulate  the  country,  and  thank  Gen. 
McClellan  and  his  army  for  their  seizure. 

A.  LINCOLN. 
Gen.  R.  B.  MARCY. 

The  President  had  previously  telegraphed  to  Gen.  McDowell, 
on  the  28th  :  "  If  Porter  effects  a  lodgment  on  both  railroads, 
near  Hanover  Court  House,  consider  whether  your  force  in 
Fredericksburg  should  not  push  through  and  join  him." 

It  is  difficult  to  conceive  any  collateral  operation  which,  at 
this  juncture,  could  have  had  more  positive  results,  than  a  thor- 
ough breaking  of  the  enemy's  communication  with  Jackson, 
by  destroying  the  South  Anna  bridges  and  otherwise.  After 
receiving  the  President's  congratulations,  however,  on  the  sup- 
posed accomplishment  of  this  object,  the  Commanding  Gene- 
ral telegraphed  as  follows  —  clearly  implying  that  Porter's 
movement  had  really  effected  little  in  that  direction,  as  the 
event  proved : 


HEADQUARTERS  ARMY  OF  THE  POTOMAC,     j 
May  30,  1862.  } 
From  the  tone  of  your  dispatches,  and  the  President's,  I  do 


370  LIFE  OP   ABRAHAM   LINCOLN. 

not  think  you  at  all  appreciate  the  value  and  magnitude  of 
Porter's  victory.  It  has  entirely  relieved  my  right  flank, 
which  was  seriously  threatened  ;  routed  and  demoralized  a  con- 
siderable portion  of  the  Kehel  forces  ;  taken  over  seven 
hundred  and  fifty  prisoners ;  killed  and  wounded  large  num- 
bers ;  one  gun,  many  small  arms,  and  much  baggage  taken.  It 
was  one  of  the  handsomest  things  in  the  war,  both  in  itself  and 
in  its  results.  Porter  has  returned,  and  my  army  is  again  well 
in  hand.  Another  day  will  make  the  probable  field  of  battle 
passable  for  artillery.  It  is  quite  certain  that  there  is  nothing 
in  front  of  McDowell  at  Fredericksburg.  I  regard  the  burn- 
ing of  South  Anna  bridges  as  the  least  important  result  of 
Porter's  movement. 

G.  B.  McCLELLAN,  Major-General. 
Hon.  E.  M.  STANTON,  Secretary  of  War. 

On  the  29th,  Mr.  Lincoln  had  telegraphed  :  "  I  think  we 
shall  be  able,  within  three  days,  to  tell  you  certainly  whether 
any  considerable  force  of  the  enemy,  Jackson  or  any  one  else, 
is  moving  on  Harper's  Ferry  or  vicinity.  Take  this  expected 
development  into  your  calculation."  On  the  31st,  McClellan 
said  in  a  dispatch:  "A  contraband  reports  that  Beauregard 
arrived  in  Richmond  day  before  yesterday  with  troops,  and 

amid   great  excitement Roads  again  frightful.     Need 

more  ambulances."  At  the  same  date,  the  President  sent  the 
following  important  information : 

A  circle  whose  circumference  shall  pass  through  Harper's 
Ferry,  Front  Royal  and  Strasburg,  and  whose  center  shall  be 
a  little  north-east  of  Winchester,  almost  certainly  has  within 
it  this  morning  the  forces  of  Jackson,  Ewell  and  Edward  John^ 
son ;  quite  certainly  they  were  within  it  two  days  ago.  Some 
part  of  their  forces  attacked  Harper's  Ferry  at  dark  last  even- 
ing. Shields,  with  McDowell's  advance,  retook  Front  Royal  at 
11  A.  M.  yesterday,  with  a  dozen  of  our  own  prisoners  taken 
there  a  week  ago,  one  hundred  and  fifty  of  the  enemy,  etc.  .  . 
Shields  at  Front  Royal  reports  a  rumor  of  still  an  additional 
force  of  the  enemy,  supposed  to  be  Anderson's,  having  entered 
the  Valley  of  Virginia.  This  last  may  or  may  not  be  true. 
Corinth  is  certainly  in  the  hands  of  Gen.  Halleck, 

The  Army  of  the  Potomac,  as  officially  reported  on  the  31st 
of  May,  numbered  127,166,  of  which  force  98,008  were  pres- 


LIFE   OP   ABRAHAM   LINCOLN.  371 

ent  for  duty.  To  this  was  added  the  force  of  Gen.  Wool,  now 
put  under  Gen.  McClellan's  command,  numbering  14,007  in, 
the  aggregate,  11,514  being  "  effective."  Total,  141,173,  with 
109,522  present  for  duty.  Gen.  Sigel  was  also  ordered  to 
report,  with  his  command,  to  Gen.  McClellan;  but  the  order 
was  subsequently  countermanded, -and  this  force  sent  to  Har- 
per's Ferry.  McCall's  division  was  ordered  to  him  on  the  6th 
of  June,  and  he  received  many  other  regiments  from  time  to 
time. 

An  order  of  the  War  Department,  June  1,  extended  the 
Department  of  Virginia  to  include  that  part  of  the  State  south 
of  the  Rappahannock  and  east  of  the  railroad  from  Frede- 
ricksburg  to  Richmond,  Petersburg,  and  Weldon,  under  com- 
mand of  Maj.-Gen.  McClellan.  Gen.  "Wool  was  assigned  to 
the  command  of  the  Middle  Department,  succeeding  Gen. 
Butler,  with  directions  to  report  to  Gen.  McClellan  for 
orders. 

Despite  the  diversion  of  a  portion  of  his  force  for  operations 
in  the  Valley,  the  Rebel  General  in  command  at  Richmond 
now  boldly  assumed  the  aggressive  against  McClellan. 

Taking  advantage  of  a  sudden  rise  of  the  Chickahominy, 
before  the  entire  completion  of  the  bridges,  Johnston  attacked 
our  left  in  heavy  force  near  Seven  Pines  and  Fair  Oaks,  on 
the  31st  of  May,  having  skillfully  made  his  combinations  with 
a  view  to  cut  off  the  corps  of  Heintzelrnan  and  Keyes.  The 
attack  commenced  about  1  o'clock  in  the  afternoon.  Casey's 
division,  in  the  advance,  was  driven  backward,  after  stoutly 
contesting  the  field  for  hours,  while  Heintzelman's  two  divi- 
sions were  brought  up  in  support.  The  enemy,  attempting  to 
force  his  way  between  these  troops  and  Bottom's  Bridge,  was 
kept  in  check  until  about  6  o'clock.  Gen.  Sumner  came  up  at 
that  hour  with  Sedgwick's  division,  followed  by  Richardson's, 
having  crossed  on  the  imperfect  bridge  which  they  had  con- 
structed, and  appeared  suddenly  on  the  left  flank  of  Johnston's 
force,  opening  a  destructive  fire  with  his  batteries,  which 
stopped  the  enemy's  advance.  Then,  by  a  gallant  bayonet  charge, 
led  by  Sumner  in  person,  the  Rebels  were  driven  back  with 
great  slaughter,  beyond  Fair  Oaks  Station.  What  had  been 


372  LIFE   OP   ABRAHAM    LINCOLN. 

almost  a  crushing  defeat,  would  have  been  turned  into  a  bril- 
liant victory,  had  our  remaining  troops  been  brought  into 
action,  and  might  probably  have  given  us  possession  of  Rich- 
mond. 

This  great  opportunity  escaped  the  Commanding  General. 
As  Prince  de  Joinville,  his  friend  and  volunteer  aid  during 
this  campaign,  informs  us  :  "  It  was  not  until  7  o'clock  in  the 
evening  that  the  idea  of  securing  all  the  bridges  without  delay, 
and  causing  the  whole  army  to  cross  at  daybreak  to  the  right 
bank  of  the  Chickahominy,  was  entertained.  It  was  now  too 
late.  Four  hours  had  been  lost,  and  the  opportunity  —  that 
moment  so  fleeting,  in  war  as  in  other  circumstances  —  had 
gone." 

The  river  rose  rapidly  during  the  night,  sweeping  away  all 
the  bridges.  The  enemy  renewed  the  attack  in  the  morning, 
knowing  that  our  left  and  center  were  now  completely  isolated 
from  the  remainder  of  their  comrades,  the  corps  of  Porter  and 
Franklin.  The  troops  of  Sumner,  Heintzelman  and  Keyes  fought 
with  desperate  courage,  sustaining  themselves  against  the  con- 
centrated strength  of  the  enemy,  until  nearly  noon,  when  the 
latter  retired,  leaving  his  dead  unburied,  and  many  of  his 
wounded  on  the  field.  Both  sides  had  suffered  severely  in  the 
battles  of  Saturday  and  Sunday.  The  Government  loss  is  stated 
as  about  5,000  and  the  Rebel  loss  about  8,000. 

The  situation  of  the  Army  of  the  Potomac  was  now  full  of 
interest — its  opportunities  clearly  to  be  seen.  The  whole  force 
which  could  be  sent  against  it  from  Richmond  had  been  beaten 
by  one-half  of  this  army.  Jackson,  with  a  force  estimated  at 
25,000,  was  now  fighting  with  Banks,  and  Fremont  and 
McDowell  were  endeavoring  to  close  in  about  him.  In  relation 
to  reported  reinforcements  to  Johnston,  McClellan  telegraphed, 
on  the  3d :  "I  am  satisfied  that  Beauregard  is  not  here."  At 
the  same  time,  he  was  fully  aware  that  the  forces  of  Beaure- 
gard and  Bragg  had  evacuated  Corinth  on  the  30th  of  May,  and 
were  now  partly  disposable  for  active  service  wherever  they 
were  most  needed.  Every  day's  delay  was  now  an  advantage 
to  the  enemy.  To  wait  for  reinforcements  was  to  wait  for  his 
adversary  to  gather  in  every  scattered  regiment,  and  to  hasten 


LIFE   OF   ABRAHAM    LINCOLN.  373 

the  arrival  of  Jackson  and  Beauregard.  To  pause  for  pleasant 
weather  and  good  roads,  was  to  postpone  action  indefinitely. 
He  was  already  almost  within  shelling  distance  of  Richmond. 
His  supplies  came  with  regularity  hy  water  to  White  House, 
and  thence  hy  railroad  to  his  lines.  And  yet,  with  almost 
daily  dispatches  about  rains  and  bad  roads,  with  continual 
appeals  for  more  men,  which  he  knew  could  not  be  granted  to 
any  great  extent,  and  with  repeated  assurances  of  what  he  was 
just  going  to  do,  nearly  an  entire  month  wore  away,  at  this 
critical  and  most  favorable  juncture,  without  result. 

On  the  3d  of  June,  he  says  :  "  The  next  leap  will  be  the  last 
one."  The  Government  and  the  country  expected  it  to  be  taken 
at  once.  But  on  the  5th,  comes  an  argument  for  more  troops. 
Five  new  regiments,  and  McCall's  division,  from  McDowell's 
command,  are  promptly  granted  him.  On  the  8th,  he  says : 
"  I  shall  be  in  perfect  readiness  to  move  forward  to  take  Rich- 
mond the  moment  McCall  reaches  here,  and  the  ground  will 
admit  the  passage  of  artillery."  On  the  same  day,  McDowell 
informs  him  :  "  For  the  third  time  I  am  ordered  to  join  you, 
and  this  time  I  hope  to  get  through."  Having  thus  the  long- 
sought  forces  of  McDowell  apparently  within  his  grasp,  he 
improves  the  occasion  to  call  for  more,  telegraphing  as  follows, 
on  the  llth:  "I  have  again  information  that  Beauregard  has 
arrived,  and  that  some  of  his  troops  are  to  follow  him."  He 
asks,  therefore,  that  reinforcements  may  be  sent  him  from 
Halleck's  army.  He  laments  that  he  is  the  victim  of  an  "  ab- 
normal season,"  and  adds  :  "  I  am  completely  checked  by  the 
weather."  At  the  same  date  (despite  the  weather)  he  reports 
that  "  McCall's  troops  have  commenced  arriving." 

On  the  12th,  he  reports :  "  Another  good  day.  All  quiet 
this  morning.  I  move  headquarters,  to-day  across  the  river." 
On  the  14th :  "  I  hope  two  days  more  will  make  the  ground 
practicable."  On  the  15th  :  "  Another  rain  set  in  about  3  P. 
M.  to-day."  On  the  18th  he  thinks  reinforcements  for  Jack- 
son* had  gone  from  Richmond.  Mr.  Lincoln  replies,  stating 

*The  battles  of  Cross  Keys  and  Port  Republic,  in  which  Gen.  Fre- 
mont failed  to  arrest  the  retreat  of  Stonewall  Jackson,  had  been  fought 
ou  tbo  8th  and  9i.h  of  June. 


374  LIFE  OF  ABRAHAM  LINCOLN. 

circumstances  by  which  this  opinion  is  "corroborated," adding: 
"  If  this  is  true,  it  is  as  good  as  a  re-enforcement  to  you  of  an 
equal  force.  I  could  better  dispose  of  things,  if  I  could  know 
about  what  day  you  can  attack  Richmond."  McClellan  replies, 
the  same  day :  "  A  general  engagement  may  take  place  any 

hour We  shall  await  only  a  favorable  condition  of  the 

earth  and  sky,  and  the  completion  of  some  necessary  prelimi- 
naries." 

On  the  19th,  the  President  suggests  that  the  reported  re -en- 
forcement of  Jackson  may  be  a  mere  ruse.  McClellan  replies, 
on  the  20th  :  "  I  have  no  doubt  that  Jackson  has  been  re-en- 
forced from  here.  There  is  reason  to  believe  that  Gen.  R.  S. 
Ripley  has  recently  joined  Lee's  army,*  with  a  brigade  or  divi- 
sion from  Charleston.  Troops  have  arrived  recently  from 
Goldsboro.  There  is  not  the  slightest  reason  to  suppose  the 
enemy  intends  evacuating  Richmond.  He  is  daily  increasing 

his  defenses I  would  be  glad  to  have  permission  to  lay 

before  your  Excellency,  by  letter  or  telegraph,  my  views  as  to 
the  present  state  of  military  affairs  throughout  the  whole 
country.  In  the  mean  time,  I  would  be  pleased  to  learn  the 
disposition,  as  to  numbers  and  position,  of  the  troops  not  under 
my  command,  in  Virginia  and  elsewhere." 

To  this  singular  dispatch,  the  President  sent  the  following 
reply: 

WASHINGTON,  June  21,  1862,  6  P.  M. 

Your  dispatch  of  yesterday,  2  P.  M.,  was  received  this 
morning.  If  it  would  not  divert  too  much  of  your  time  and 
attention  from  the  army  under  your  immediate  command,  I 
would  be  glad  to  have  your  views  as  to  the  present  state  of 
military  affairs  throughout  the  whole  country,  as  you  say  you 
would  be  glad  to  give  them.  I  would  rather  it  should  be  by 
letter  than  by  telegrapk,  because  of  the  better  chance  of 
secrecy.  As  to  the  numbers  and  positions  of  the  troops  not 
under  your  command,  in  Virginia  and  elsewhere,  even  if  I 
could  do  it  with  accuracy,  which  I  can  not,  I  would  rather  not 
transmit  either  by  telegraph  or  letter,  because  of  the  chances 

*Gen.  Robert  E.  Lee  had  been  assigned  to  the  command  of  the 
Rebel  forces  at  Richmond,  on  the  3d  of  June,  superseding  Johnston, 
who  had  been  wounded  at  Fair  Oaks. 


LIFE    OF    ABRAHAM    LINCOLN.  375 

of  its  reaching  the  enemy.  I  would  be  very  glad  to  talk  with 
you,  but  you  can  not  leave  your  camp,  and  I  can  not  well  leave 
here.  A.  LINCOLN,  President. 

Haj.-Gen.  GEORGE  B.  MCCLELLAN. 

In  his  final  report,  Gen.  McClellan  makes  the  following 
statement :  "  All  the  information  I  could  obtain,  previoiis  to 
the  24th  of  June,  regarding  the  movements  of  Gen.  Jackson, 
led  to  the  belief  that  he  was  at  Gordonsville.  where  he  was 
receiving  re-enforcements  from  Richmond  via  Lynchburg  and 
Staunton ;  but  what  his  purposes  were,  did  not  appear  until  the 
date  specified,"  etc.  Entertaining  this  opinion,  it  may  well  be 
asked,  in  passing,  how  happened  it  that  he  so  vehemently 
urged,  again  and  again,  the  withdrawal  of  all  troops  from 
before  "Washington,  leaving  an  entirely  inadequate  garrison 
within  the  city  itself,  in  order  to  transfer  all  to  the  Peninsula  ? 
Such,  on  the  one  hand,  is  his  confession  ;  such,  on  the  other, 
was  his  demand.  That  Jackson  was  prepared  for  any  "  pur- 
pose "  that  best  suited  the  occasion  —  that  he  would  have 
attacked  Washington  had  McDowell's  army  been  withdrawn, 
as  McClellan  desired,  or  that  he  would  have  invaded  Maryland 
by  way  of  the  Valley,  as  Lee  has  since  done — can  admit  of  no 
rational  doubt.  Both  those  movements  were  defeated  by  the 
wise  forecast  of  the  President,  and  by  his  persistence  in  adhe- 
ring to  the  policy  so  clearly  marked  out,  with  the  approval  of 
all  the  leading  generals,  at  the  outset  of  the  Peninsular  move- 
ment. When  McClellan  admits  his  inability  to  discern  the 
intentions  of  Jackson,  more  than  a  month  after  the  latter  left 
Richmond,  he  at  once  puts  at  rest  all  cavils  in  regard  to  the 
opinions  of  those  who  assumed  some  other  purpose  possible 
than  that  finally  developed.  But  what  solution  can  be  given 
of  his  own  inaction  during  all  this  period  of  Jackson's  known 
absence  ?  And  how  will  .he  even  give  a  plausible  look  to  hia 
eagerness  to  withdraw  McDowell,  and  to  leave  to  Jackson  an 
unobstructed  route  to  the  National  Capital? 

But  the  "  purposes"  of  Jackson,  hitherto  so  uncertain,  were 
discovered  on  the  24th  of  June,  and  thus  reported  : 


376 


LIFE  OF  ABRAHAM  LINCOLN. 


HEADQUARTERS  ARMY  OF  THE  POTOMAC,     ) 


June  24,  1862,  12  P.  M. 
A  very  peculiar  case  of  desertion  has  just  occurred  from  the 
enemy.  The  party  states  that  he  left  Jackson,  Whiting,  and 
Ewell,  (fifteen  brigades,)  at  Gordonsville,  on  the  21st ;  that 
they  were  moving  to  Frederickshall,  and  that  it  was  intended 
to  attack  my  rear  on  the  28th.  I  would  be  glad  to  learn,  at 
your  earliest  convenience,  the  most  exact  information  you  have 
as  to  the  position  and  movements  of  Jackson,  as  well  as  the 
sources  from  which  your  information  is  derived,  that  I  may  the 
better  compare  it  with  what  I  have. 

G.  B.  MCCLELLAN,  Major-General. 

The  reply  was  as  follows  : 

WASHINGTON,  June  25,  1862. 

We  have  no  definite  information  as  to  the  numbers  or  posi- 
tion of  Jackson's  force.  Gen.  King  yesterday  reported  a 
deserter's  statement  that  Jackson's  force  was,  nine  days  ago, 
forty  thousand  men. ;  Some  reports  place  ten  thousand  Rebels 
under  Jackson,  at  Gordonsville ;  others,  that  his  force  is  at 
Port  Republic,  Harrisonburg,  and  Luray.  Fremont  yesterday 
reported  rumors  that  Western  Virginia  was  threatened ;  and 
Gen.  Kelley,  that  Ewell  was  advancing  to  New  Creek,  where 
Fremont  has  his  depots.  The  last  telegram  from  Fremont 
contradicts  this  rumor.  The  last  telegram  from  Banks  says 
the  enemy's  pickets  are  strong  in  advance  at  Luray ;  the  peo- 
ple decline  to  give  any  information  of  his  whereabouts.  Within 
the  last  two  days  the  evidence  is  strong  that  for  some  purpose 
the  enemy  is  circulating  rumors  of  Jackson's  advance  in 
various  directions,  with  a  view  to  conceal  the  real  point  of 
attack.  Neither  McDowell,  who  is  at  Manassas,  nor  Banks 
and  Fremont,  who  are  at  Middletown,  appear  to  have  any  accu- 
rate knowledge  of  the  subject. 

A  letter  transmitted  to  the  department  yesterday,  pur- 
ported to  be  dated  at  Gordonsville  on  the  14th  instant, 
stated  that  the  actual  attack  was  designed  for  Washington 
and  Baltimore,  as  soon  as  you  attacked  Richmond,  but 
that  the  report  was  to  be  circulated  that  Jackson  had  gone 
to  Richmond,  in  order  to  mislead.  This  letter  looked  very 
much  like  a  blind,  and  induces  me  to  suspect  that  Jackson's 
real  movement  is  now  toward  Richmond.  It,  came  from  Alex- 
andria, and  is  certainly  designed,  like  the  numerous  rumors 
put  afloat,  to  mislead.  I  think,  therefore,  that  while  the  warn- 
ing of  the  deserter  to  you  may  also  be  a  blind,  that  it  could  not 


LIFE  OF  ABRAHAM  LINCOLN.  377 

safely  be  disregarded.     I  will  transmit  to   you   any  further 
information  on  this  subject  that  may  be  received  here. 

EDWIN  M.  STANTON,  Secretary  of  War. 
Maj.-Gen.  MCCLELLAN. 

On  the  25th,  McClellan  began  to  advance  his  left,  prepara- 
tory, he  says,  to  a  general  forward  movement.  In  the  evening 
of  the  same  day,  he  reported  :  "  The  affair  is  over,  and  we  have 
gained  our  point  fully,  and  with  but  little  loss,  notwithstanding 
{he  strong  opposition."  An  hour  and  a  half  earlier,  he  had  tele- 
graphed :  "On  our  right,  Porter  has  silenced  the  enemy's  bat- 
teries in  his  front." 

The  blow  which  the  wily  deserter  had  announced  to  be  struck 
by  Jackson  on  the  28th,  fell  two  days  earlier.  Only  an  hour 
after  announcing  the  success  of  his  preliminary  movement  on 
the  25th,  McClellan  reported  that  he  had  "information  confirm- 
ing the  supposition  that  Jackson's  advance  is  at  or  near  Han- 
over Court  House',  and  that  Beauregard  arrived,  with  strong 
reinforcements,  in  Richmond  yesterday."  Th£  desponding 
side  of  his  temper,  and  an  impulse  to  protect  himself  from  the 
extreme  effects  of  an  apprehended  fall,  appear  in  the  following 
paragraph  of  this  dispatch  : 

I  regret  my  great  inferiority  in  numbers,  but  feel  that  I  am 
in  no  way  responsible  for  it,  as  I  have  not  failed  to  represent 
repeatedly  the  necessity  of  re-enforcements,  that  this  was  the 
decisive  point,  and  that  all  the  available  means  of  the  Govern- 
•  ment  should  be  concentrated  here.  I  will  do  all  that  a  general 
can  do  with  the  splendid  army  I  have  the  honor  to  command, 
and,  if  it  is  destroyed  by  overwhelming  numbers,  can  at  least 
die  with  it  and  share  its  fate.  But  if  the  result  of  the  action 
which  will  probably  occur  to-morrow,  or  within  a  short  time, 
is  a  disaster,  the  responsibility  can  not  be  thrown  on  my  shoul- 
ders ;  it  must  rest  where  it  belongs. 

Secretary  Stanton  replied  : 

WASHINGTON,  June  25,  1862,  11.20  P.  M. 
Your  telegram   of   fifteen   minutes   past  6  has  just   been 
received.     The  circumstances  that  have  hitherto   rendered  it 
impossible  for  the  Government  to  send  you  any  more  reenforce- 
ments  than  has  been  done,  have  been  so  distinctly  stated  to  you 
by  the  President,  that  it  is  needless  for  me  to  repeat  them. 
32 


378  LIFE    OF   ABRAHAM    LINCOLN. 

Every  effort  has  been  made  by  the  President  and  myself  to 
strengthen  you.  King's  division  has  reached  Falmouth ; 
Shield's  division  and  Ricketts'  division  are  at  Manassas.  The 
President  designs  to  send  a  part  of  that  force  to  aid  you ,  as 
speedily  as  it  can  be  done. 

E.  M.  STANTON,  Secretary  of  War. 

Maj.-Gen.  G.  B.  MCCLELLAN. 

The  President  sent  the  following  dispatch  on  the  same 
subject : 

WASHINGTON,  June  26,  1862. 

Maj.-Gen.  McCLELLAN  :  Your  three  dispatches  of  yester- 
day in  relation  to  the  affair,  ending  with  the  statement  that  you 
completely  succeeded  in  making  your  point,  are  very  gratifying. 

The  later  one,  of  6.15  P.  M.,  suggesting  the  probability  of 
your  being  overwhelmed  by  two  hundred  thousand,  and  talking 
of  where  the  responsibility  will  belong,  pains  me  very  much. 
I  give  you  all  I  can,  and  act  on  the  presumption  that  you  will 
do  the  best  you  can  with  what  you  have,  while  you  continue, 
ungenerously  I  think,  to  assume  that  I  could  give  you  more 
if  I  would.  I  have  omitted,  and  shall  omit,  no  opportunity  to 
send  you  reinforcements  whenever  I  possibly  can. 

A.  LINCOLN. 

P.  S.  Gen.  Pope  thinks  if  you  fall  back,  it  would  be  much 
better  toward  York  river  than  toward  the  James.  As  Popo 
now  has  charge  of  the  Capitol,  please  confer  with  him  through 
the  telegraph.  A.  LINCOLN. 

The  aggregate  number  of  the  Army  of  the  Potomac,  on  the 
20th  of  June,  was  156,838.  The  campaign  had  now  extended 
into  the  season  when  disease  could  not  fail  to  be  prevalent,  in 
the  low,  swampy  region  now  occupied  by  the  Government 
troops.  The  effective  men  numbered  115,102. 

From  the  evening  of  the  26th,  when  Jackson  attacked  his 
right,  and  threatened  his  communications  by  the  Pamunkey 
river,  Gen.  McClellan  states  that  "  every  energy  of  the  army 
was  bent"  to  the  end  of  "an  immediate  change  of  base  across 
the  Peninsula."  The  Rebel  Gen.  D.  HA  Hill  had  gone  out 
from  Richmond  with  his  command  that  day,  over  Meadow 
Bridge,  to  form  a  junction  with  Jackson,  who  was  approaching 
by  way  of  Ashland  and  Hanover  Court  House.  At  about  3 
o'clock  P.  M.,  Hill  attacked  McCall,  at  Mechanicsville,  and 


LIFE  OP  ABRAHAM  LINCOLN.  379 

was  finally  repulsed,  with  great  'loss.  Gen.  McClellan  tele- 
graphed :  "  Victory  to-day  complete,  and  against  great  odda. 
I  almost  begin  to  think  we  are  invincible."  During  the  night, 
the  baggage  of  the  Fifth  Corps  (Porter's)  was  sent  across  to 
the  west  side  of  the  Chickahominy,  and  preparations  were 
made  to  start  the  trains  next  day,  for  James  river.  Orders 
were  at  the  same  time  sent  to  the  White  House  for  the  removal 
of  all  the  stores  possible  from  that  vicinity,  by  water,  up  the 
James  river,  to  meet  the  retreating  army,  and  to  destroy  what- 
ever supplies  could  not  be  thus  reshipped.  These  orders  were 
promptly  executed.  Gen.  Stoneman,  with  his  cavalry  force, 
having  been  cut  off,  made  a  successful  retreat  to  the  White 
House. 

McCall  was  to  fall  back  and  unite  with  the  rest  of  Porter's 
corps,  on  the  east  bank  of  the  Chickahominy,  to  hold  the 
bridges  at  Games'  Mill,  giving  time  for  the  main  army  to  exe- 
cute its  intended  movement.  This  position  was  to  have  been 
maintained  until  the  night  of  the  27th,  when  Porter's  force 
was  to  cross,  destroying  the  bridges.  Hill,  however,  attacked 
McCall  at  dawn  with  great  vigor,  compelling  him  to  retire 
further  down  the  stream,  leaving  the  bridge  at  Mechanicsville 
to  the  enemy.  A  large  part  of  the  Rebel  force  was  now  on 
the  left  bank  of  the  river,  and  expeditiously  concentrated  for 
the  destruction  of  Porter's  forces  at  Games'  Mill,  near  the  New 
Bridge.  Porter's  left  at  length  gave  way,  under  the  fierce  and 
overwhelming  onset  of  the  enemy,  and  the  center  was  thrown 
into  confusion,  with  imminent  danger  of  utter  rout.  Reen- 
forcements  were  hurried  across  from  the  south  bank  of  the 
river,  and  saved  the  day.  Meagher's  Irish  brigade,  fighting 
with  unsurpassed  gallantry,  and  French's  brigade,  with  like 
heroic  conduct,  came  to  the  support  of  Porter's  broken  divi- 
sions, and  held  the  enemy  in  check  until  night  closed  the  con- 
flict. This  battle  was  one  of  the  most  sanguinary  of  the  cam- 
paign, resulting  in  defeat,  but  it  gained  time  for  starting  the 
trains  and  troops  through  White  Oak  Swamp.  It  had  also 
drawn  out  Lee's  forces  from  Richmond,  so  as  to  prevent  any 
'immediate  interference  with  the  retreat  from  that  quarter. 

It  was  not  until  the  28th,  that  Lee  became  fully  aware  of 


380  LIFE   OF   ABRAHAM   LINCOLN. 

the  purpose  of  McClellan  to  withdraw  his  army  to  the  James 
river.  The  single  road  by  which  this  movement  was  to  be 
made  was  exposed,  at  different  points,  to  an  advance  of  the 
enemy  from  Richmond,  by  the  several  roads  leading  from  the 
city.  There  was  no  degree  of  security  until  the  rear  had 
passed  through  the  Swamp,  and  on  emerging  therefrom  the 
danger  would  be  soon  renewed.  The  corps  of  Sumner  and 
Franklin  were  stationed  at  Fair  Oaks  on  Sunday,  the  29th, 
(Heintzelman  meanwhile  retiring,)  and  having  protected  the 
trains,  which  were  now  well  on  their  way,  (a  large  amount  of 
property  which  could  not  be  transferred  having  been  destroyed,) 
began  to  fall  back.  The  enemy,  perceiving  the  movement, 
promptly  attacked  the  retiring  forces,  about  2  o'clock  P.  M., 
and  they  made  a  stand  not  far  from  Savage's  Station.  The 
Rebel  masses,  brought  up  within  a  short  distance  of  our  artil- 
lery, now  in  position,  were  repulsed  with  great  loss,  and  their 
repeated  attacks  were  successfully  repelled.  During  the  night, 
Sumner  and  Franklin  fell  back  to  the  White  Oak  Swamp 
bridge.  On  the  morning  of  the  30th,  the  last  of  the  troops 
had  followed  the  trains  across  that  bridge.  Franklin  remained 
to  dispute  the  passage  of  the  Rebels  at  this  point,  while  Heint- 
zelman, with  the  four  divisions  of  Hooker,  Sedgwick,  Kearney 
and  McCall,  took  position  at  Charles  City  Cross  Roads,  where 
several  roads  leading  from  Richmond  intersect.  Jackson's 
corps  crossed  the  Chickahominy  early  on  Monday  morning, 
following  up  the  retreating  army  by  the  Williamsburg  road. 
The  forces  of  Longstreet,  A.  P.  Hill,  Magruder  and  Huger 
went  out  the  Charles  City  road  with  the  expectation  of 
intercepting  our  forces  at  that  point.  Jackson  had  come  close 
upon  the  position  held  by  Franklin  at  the  White  Oak  Swamp, 
a  little  before  noon ;  but  the  rear  of  our  army  had  already 
crossed  and  destroyed  the  bridge.  An  artillery  engagement 
followed,  lasting  until  night,  with  severe  losses  on  both  sides. 
Two  brigades  of  Sumner's  corps  participated  in  this  action. 
Further  pursuit  from  this  direction  was  not  attempted. 

Toward  night,  on  the  same  day,  the  forces  of  Longstreet 
and  others  (commanded  by  Gen.  A.  P.  Hill,  the  former  being 
absent.)  attacked  the  force  under  Hciutzelman,  who  was  aided 


LIFE  OP   ABRAHAM  LINCOLN.  381 

by  part  of  Sumner's  corps.  The  enemy  was  repulsed  with 
great  slaughter  and  thrown  into  confusion.  In  vain  were  fresh 
troops  massed  against  the  well-managed  batteries  and  heavy 
musketry  fire  of  our  forces.  After  a  desperate  conflict,  in 
which  the  fate  of  the  whole  Army  of  the  Potomac  was  at  stake, 
and  with  all  the  strength  the  Rebels  could  bring  upon  the 
field,  a  decisive  victory  was  gained  for  the  Government.  This 
has  been  called  the  battle  of  Glendale. 

The  corps  of  Keyes  and  Porter  had  meanwhile  moved  for- 
ward, in  advance  of  the  remaining  troops,  toward  James  river, 
near  Turkey  Bend,  to  open  communication  with  the  gunboats. 
The  rear  of  the  trains  had  reached  Malvern  Hill  while  the 
action  at  Glendale  was  going  on.  The  transports  from  the  White 
House  arrived  almost  simultaneously.  During  the  night,  the 
corps  of  Sumner,  Heintzelman  and  Franklin  fell  back  to  the 
vicinity  of  this  point.  Here  was  an  elevated  open  table-land, 
a  mile  and  a  half  in  length  by  three-fourths  of  a  mile  in 
breadth,  crossed  by  several  intersecting  roads.  The  troops 
were  massed  on  this  hill  for  a  final  encounter,  most  of  the 
artillery  being  placed  in  position — including  ten  siege  guns  at 
the  very  summit.  Porter's  corps  held  the  left,  Heintzelman 
and  Sumner  the  center,  and  Keyes  the  right,  the  line  curving 
backward  nearly  to  the  river.  The  left  flank  was  protected 
by  the  gunboats  under  command  of  Com.  Rodgers,  which  took 
part  in  the  action,  and  on  the  right  the  roads  were  barricaded. 

Thus  disposed,  after  the  losses  incurred  during  a  weari- 
some retreat  of  seventeen  miles,  fighting  by  day  and  march- 
ing by  night,  the  Army  of  the  Potomac  was  compelled 
to  grapple  with  the  collected  forces  of  the  enemy.  Before 
10  o'clock  in  the  morning,  Rebel  skirmishers,  with  artil- 
lery, appeared  all  along  the  left  wing.  About  2  o'clock  a 
column  was  seen  in  front  of  Heintzelman,  beyond  the  range 
of  his  artillery,  moving  toward  the  right,  but  it  disappeared 
without  making  an  attack.  An  hour  later,  the  divisions  of 
Kearney  and  Couch,  on  the  left  center,  were  fiercely  assailed 
with  artillery  and  musketry.  The  fire  was  returned  with  such 
effect  as  to  drive  back  the  assailants  in  disorder,  our  forces 
advancing  several  hundred  yards  to  a  stronger  position.  This 


382  LIFE   OF    ABRAHAM   LINCOLN. 

action  occupied  about  an  hour.  The  enemy  renewed  the  attack 
on  the  left  about  six  o'clock,  with  artillery,  advancing  his  in- 
fantry columns  to  storm  the  hill.  These  were  swept  away  by 
our  batteries,  and  each  successive  attacking  party  shared  the 
same  fate,  until  the  field  was  covered  with  the  wounded  and 
dead.  Not  only  artillery  fire,  but  also  volleys  of  musketry  and 
bayonet  charges,  met  the  persistent  assailants,  who  advanced, 
column  after  column,  only  to  be  crushed  and  scattered. 
Night  ended  the  terrible  struggle — the  Stars  and  Stripes 
floating  in  grand  triumph  over  the  field  made  ghastly  with 
the  Rebel  masses,  fallen  in  the  vain  attempt  to  overwhelm 
a  gallant  army  that  six  days  before  had  seemed  their  easy 

Prey- 
Instead  of  improving  the  advantage  gained,  to  drive  into 
Richmond  an  enemy  whose  strength,  as  now  shown  by  repeated 
trials,  had  been  greatly  overrated,  and  who  was  disheartened  by 
continued  defeat,  the  commanding  General  withdrew  his  forces 
from  their  strong  position,  retiring  to  Harrison's  Landing. 
This  was  effected  during  the  next  two  days,  with  no  serious 
attempt  at  molestation  from  the  enemy.  Gen.  McClellan  states 
the  entire  number  of  his  killed,  wounded  and  missing  during 
these  seven  days,  at  15,249. 

Thus  ended  the  Peninsular  campaign — adding  three  disas- 
trous months  of  unmasterly  activity  to  the  eight  months  of 
dreamy  indecision  before  Washington.  It  was  no  fault  of  the 
army.  It  was  from  no  lack  of  support  by  the  Government. 
It  was  due  to  no  combination  of  untoward  events.  The  posi- 
tive successes  at  Williamsburg,  at  Fair  Oaks,  at  Savage's  Station, 
at  Glendale,  and  at  Malvern  Hill,  show  that  the  Army  of 
the  Potomac  could  win  victories,  even  against  great  supposed 
odds  in  numbers  and  in  position,  when  courageously  led  to  the 
fight. 

In  adopting  a  route  to  Richmond  by  the  Lower  Chesapeake, 
against  the  better  judgment  of  the  President,  Gen.  McClellan 
had  expressed  his  readiness  to  stake  his  reputation,  his  life, 
and  the  cause  itself,  on  the  success  of  his  plan.  He  was  fur- 
nished all  needful  means,  and  every  available  man,  consistently 
with  hit  own  opinions  as  to  the  necessary  security  of  Washing- 


LIFE   OF   ABRAHAM    LINCOLN.  383 

ton,  and  with  the  express  conditions  agreed  to  by  himself  ia 
undertaking  the  work.  He  sadly  failed  in  his  efforts  to  employ 
those  men  and  means  to  the  accomplishment  of  the  end 
desired. 

The  military  record  of  the  campaign  has  a  singular  same- 
ness. When  occasionally  his  roads  are  good,  he  can  not  move 
without  reinforcements.  When  his  reinforcements  come,  he 
has  to  wait  for  better  roads.  Thus  time  passes — the  month  of 
April,  before  an  army  originally  one-eighth  as  large  as  his  own ; 
much  of  May  and  June  by  the  sickly  Chickahominy,  his  men 
not  unfit  for  duty  engaged  in  throwing  up  intrenchments,  to  be 
abandoned  on  the  first  attack.  Day  after  day,  he  is  only 
waiting  for  something  just  on  the  point  of  being  gained, 
when  his  final  advance  and  assault  are  to  commence.  But 
perfect  readiness  never  comes  ;  and  at  last,  the  enemy,  con- 
centrating all  his  strength,  himself  attacks,  and  puts  upon  its 
defense,  an  army  that  was  confidently  led  forth  for  aggres- 
sive war. 

A  month  wasted  at  Yorktown,  without  plausible  palliation ; 
tardy  pursuit,  after  the  unintended  battle,  resulting  in  victory 
at  Williamsburg ;  unaccountable  hesitation  and  slackness  on 
the  Chickahominy  ;  utter  neglect  to  use  the  known  absence 
of  Jackson,  or  to  anticipate  the  arrival  of  Beauregard  after 
the  evacuation  of  Corinth ;  insured  an  otherwise  impossible 
discomfiture.  Never  did  the  result  of  a  campaign  more  bit- 
terly disappoint  public  hope.  The  worst  that  Mr.  Lincoln 
had  foreseen  from  the  adoption  of  the  Peninsular  plan  had 
happened,  and  even  a  loss  of  the  entire  army  was  now  dreaded. 
Every  advantage  supposed  by  Gen.  McClellan  to  be  attainable 
by  this  route  to  Richmond  had  been  thrown  away.  The  cause 
had  suffered  a  vastly  greater  blow  than  at  Bull  Run.  The  nation 
was  more  depressed ;  the  Administration  more  painfully  em- 
barrassed, than  by  any  previous  calamity.  The  worst  effects 
upon  the  cause,  abroad  and  at  home,  were  to  be  apprehended 
from  thU  unfortunate  issue  of  a  grand  military  plan. 


384  LIFE   OP   ABRAHAM    LINCOLN. 


CHAPTER  VIII. 

Campaign  of  the  Army  of  Virginia. — Withdrawal  of  the  Army  of  the 
P9tomac  from  the  Peninsula. — First  Invasion  of  Maryland. — McClel- 
lan  Superseded. 

GEN.  FREMONT,  commanding  the  Mountain  Department, 
and  Gen.  Banks,  commanding  the  Department  of  the  Shenan- 
doah,  having  failed  to  cooperate  effectively  in  carrying  out  the 
President's  order  intended  to  entrap  Jackson  in  his  bold  ope- 
rations in  the  Valley,  and  the  subsequent  movements  of  Gen- 
McDowell,  in  command  of  the  Department  of  the  Rappahan- 
nock,  having  also  been  unable  to  render  decisive  aid  in  this 
work,  it  became  manifest  that  a  reorganization  of  the  forces  in 
question,  under  one  head,  had  become  necessary.  Some  time 
before  the  final  catastrophe  at  Richmond,  it  had  also  become 
apparent  that  the  Army  of  the  Potomac,  instead  of  accomplish- 
ing its  object,  was  rather  in  danger  of  being  itself  sacrificed. 
Meanwhile,  the  capture  of  New  Madrid,  the  occupation  of 
Corinth,  and  the  rapid  advance  of  our  forces  down  the  Missis- 
sippi, taking  possession  of  Fort  Pillow  on  the  5th  of  June,  and 
of  Memphis  on  the  6th,  and  passing  with  little  opposition  to 
Vicksburg,  (before  which  our  fleet  appeared  on  the  25th,)  had 
not  only  secured  substantial  results,  but  had  also  awakened  a 
desire  for  similar  leadership  in  the  East. 

Few  events  of  the  war,  thus  far,  had  evinced  better  general- 
ship than  the  operations  at  New  Madrid  and  Island  Number 
Ten,  in  which  Maj.-Gen.  John  Pope  was  the  hero.  Aside  from 
Gen.  Grant,  still  needed  with  the  Army  of  the  Tennessee,  no 
other  general,  at  this  time,  was  more  emphatically  a  rising  man  in 
the  army.  The  President  accordingly  determined  to  call  Gen. 
Pope  to  Washington,  where  he  arrived  about  the  20th  of  June. 
After  full  consultation  and  deliberation,  the  President  having 
visited  Gen.  Scott  at  West  Point,  on  the  24th,  it  was  decided 


LIFE   OF   ABRAHAM    LINCOLN.  385 

to  consolidate  the  three  departments  specified  above,  and  to 
organize  a  new  campaign.  In  pursuance  of  this  purpose,  the 
President  issued  his  order,  on  the  2&th  of  June,  creating  the 
Army  of  Virginia,  under  the  command  of  Gen.  Pope,  the 
forces  under  Gen.  Fremont  to  constitute  the  First  Army  Corps, 
those  of  Gen.  Banks  the  Second  Corps,  and  those  under  Gen. 
McDowell  the  Third  Corps,  each  to  he  commanded  hy  those 
officers  respectively.  At  the  time  of  this  action,  the  critical 
condition  of  McClellan's  army  seemed  to  impose  the  necessity 
of  positive  measures  for  protecting  Washington  and  holding 
the  approach  into  Maryland  and  Pennsylvania  by  the  Shenan- 
doah  Valley,  from  the  first  foreseen,  as  since  demonstrated,-  to 
be  an  important  element  of  the  military  position. 

On  the  27th,  Gen.  Fremont  asked  to  be  relieved  from  his 
command.  This  request  was  granted,  and  his  connection  with 
the  army,  in  any  active  command,  has  never  since  been 
resumed.  Gen.  Francis  Sigel  was  soon  after  put  in  command 
of  the  First  Corps  of  the  Army  of  Virginia  in  his  stead. 

Maj.-Gen.  Halleck  was  also  called  to  Washington.  It  may 
be  safely  assumed  that  the  appointment  of  this  officer  as 
General-in-chief  of  the  army  was  one  of  the  subjects  in  regard 
to  which  the  President  had  anxiously  desired  the  counsel  of 
Gen.  Scott,  and  about  which  there  was  a  free  interchange  of 
\iews,  on  the  memorable  visit  of  the  24th  of  June.  The 
appointment  of  Gen.  Halleck  as  General-in-chief  was  officially 
announced  on  the  llth  of  July. 

On  the  28th  of  June,  the  Governors  of  seventeen  States 
united  in  an  address  to  the  President,  expressing  their  belief 
in  the  readiness  of  the  people  to  respond  to  a  call  for  more 
troops,  and  in  the  popular  desire  for  prompt  and  vigorous 
measures  to  end  the  rebellion.  In  response,  the  following  cir- 
cular was  sent  to  each  of  the  Governors  uniting  in  this  sug- 
gestion, and  the  call  for  three  hundred  thousand  additional 
troops  was  at  once  published  : 

EXECUTIVE  MANSION,  WASHINGTON,     ") 
July  1,  1862.  | 

GENTLEMEN  :    Fully  concurring  in  the  wisdom  of  the  views 
expressed  to  me  in  so  patriotic  a  manner  by  you  in  the  com- 
33 


386  LIFE   OF   ABRAHAM    LINCOLN. 

munication  of  the  28th  day  of  June,  I  have  decided  to  call 
into  the  service  an  additional  force  of  three  hundred  thousand 
men. 

I  suggest  and  recommend  that  the  troops  should  be  chiefly 

of  infantry.     The  quota  of  your  State  would  be .     I  trust 

that  they  may  be  enrolled  without  delay,  so  as  to  bring  this 
unnecessary  and  injurious  civil  war  to  a  speedy  and  satisfactory 
conclusion. 

An  order  fixing  the  quotas  of  the  respective  States  will  be 
issued  by  the  War  Department  to-morrow. 

ABRAHAM  LINCOLN. 

Gen.  Pope  at  once  entered  on  the  work  of  preparation  for 
th«  far  from  welcome  duties  assigned  him.  On  ascertaining 
the  condition  of  the  forces  placed  at  his  command,  he  was  pain- 
fully conscious  of  the  great  disproportion  of  the  means  at  his 
disposal  to  the  ends  that  were  desired.  In  addition  to  the 
troops  within  the  intrenchments  around  Washington,  the 
whole  effective  force  at  his  disposal  was  as  follows  :  First  Corps, 
11,500  ;  Second  Corps,  (as  reported,)  14,500  ;  and  Third  Corps, 
18,400— making  in  all,  44,400.  Gen.  Pope  states,  however, 
that  the  Second  Corps  really  numbered  but  about  8,000,  so  that 
the  total  was  barely  38,000.  With  this  force,  the  new  Com- 
manding General  had  the  triple  task  of  defending  Washington, 
holding  the  Shenandoah  Valley,  and  creating  a  diversion  in 
favor  of  the  army  at  Harrison's  Landing. 

At  the  first  intelligence  of  Jackson's  onset  upon  the  Army 
of  the  Potomac  by  way  of  Hanover  Court  House,  on  the  26th, 
Gen.  Pope  had  earnestly  and  repeatedly  urged  the  impolicy  of 
a  retreat  to  the  James  river,  still  further  away  from  re-enforce- 
ments, but  advised,  instead,  that  McClellan  should  make  his 
way  northward,  where  effective  support  could  be  rendered  him 
by  the  remaining  troops  in  Virginia.  This  policy  of  concen- 
tration may  have  been  impracticable,  under  the  circumstances ; 
and  at  all  events,  it  was  little  regarded  by  McClellan,  except 
upon  conditions  that  would  expose  to  the  enemy  all  the  ap- 
proaches to  Washington  and  the  Valley.  The  necessity  of  cor- 
dial cooperation  between  the  little  army  left  for  the  defense  of 
these  positions,  and  the  remnant  of  McClellan's  force,  at  Harri- 
son's Landing,  was  obvious.  The  utter  impossibility  of  send- 


LIFE   OF   ABRAHAM   LINCOLN.  387 

ing  to  the  latter  point  any  re- enforcements  drawn  from  the 
former,  hardly  needs  to  be  stated,  and  yet  it  was  for  precisely 
the  reason  that  this  was  not  done,  that  Gen.  McClellan,  after 
his  disastrous  battle  at  Gaines'  Mill,  on  the  28th,  wrote  the 
following  lettlr — which,  but  for  his  deliberate  reproduction  of 
it  in  his  final  report,  might  have  been  charitably  dismissed  as 
a  mere  hasty  ebullition — received  with  a  forbearance  which, 
perhaps,  such  unamiable  weakness  had  long  since  ceased  to 
deserve  : 

HEADQUARTERS  ARMY  OF  THE  POTOMAC,     ) 
SAVAGE'S  STATION,  June  28,  1862,  12.20  A.  M.  j 

I  now  know  the  full  history  of  the  day.  On  this  side  of  the 
river  (the  right  bank)  we  repulsed  several  strong  attacks.  On 
the  left  bank  our  men  did  all  that  men  could  do,  all  that  sol- 
diers could  accomplish,  but  they  were  overwhelmed  by  vastly 
superior  numbers,  ev*en  after  I  brought  my  last  reserves  into 
action.  The  loss  on  both  sides  is  terrible.  I  believe  it  will 
prove  to  be  the  most  desperate  battle  of  the  war.  The  sad 
remnants  of  my  men  behave  as  men.  Those  battalions  who 
fought  most  bravely,  and  suffered  most,  are  still  in  the  best 
order.  My  regulars  were  superb ;  and  I  count  upon  what  are 
left  to  turn  another  battle,  in  company  with  their  gallant  com- 
rades of  the  volunteers.  Had  I  twenty  thousand  or  even  ten 
thousand  fresh  troops  to  use  to-morrow,  I  could  take  Kich- 
mond ;  but  I  have  not  a  man  in  reserve,  and  shall  be  glad  to 
cover  my  retreat  and  save  the  material  and  personnel  of  the 
army. 

If  we  have  lost  the  day,  we  have  yet  preserved  our  honor, 
and  no  one  need  blush  for  the  Army  of  the  Potomac.  I  have 
lost  this  battle  because  my  force  was  too  small. 

I  again  repeat  that  I  am  not  responsible  for  this,  and  I  say 
it  with  the  earnestness  of  a  general  who  feels  in  his  heart  the 
loss  of  every  brave  man  who  has  been  needlessly  sacrificed 
to-day.  I  still  hope  to  retrieve  our  fortunes ;  but  to  do  this 
the  Government  must  view  the  matter  in  the  same  earnest  light 
that  I  do.  You  must  send  me  very  large  re-enforcements,  and 
send  them  at  once.  I  shall  draw  back  to  this  side  of  the  Chick- 
ahominy,  and  think  I  can  withdraw  all  our  material.  Please 
understand  that  in  this  battle  we  have  lost  nothing  but  men, 
and  those  the  best  we  have. 

In  addition  to  what  I  have  already  said,  I  only  wish  to  say 
to  the  President  that  I  think  he  is  wrong  in  regarding  me  as 
ungenerous  when  I  said  that  my  force  was  too  weak.  I  merely 


388  LITE   OF   ABRAHAM   LINCOLN. 

intimated  a  truth  which  to-day  has  been  too  plainly  proved. 
If,  at  this  instant,  I  could  dispose  of  ten  thousand  fresh  men, 
I  could  gain  the  victory  to-morrow. 

I  know  that  a  few  thousand  more  men  would  have  changed 
this  battle  from  a  defeat  to  a  victory.  As  it  is,  the  Government 
must  not  and  can  not  hold  me  responsible  for  the  result. 

I  feel  too  earnestly  to-night.  I  have  seen  too  many  dead 
and  wounded  comrades  to  feel  otherwise  than  that  the  Govern- 
ment has  not  sustained  this  army.  If  you  do  not  so  now,  the 
game  is  lost. 

If  I  save  this  army  now,  I  tell  you  plainly  that  I  owe  no 
thanks  to  you,  or  to  any  other  persons  in  Washington. 

You  have  done  your  best  to  sacrifice  this  army. 

€K   B.    McCLELLAN. 

Hon.  E.  M.  STANTON. 

Further  communication  with  this  officer  was  interrupted 
until,  after  his  arrival  at  Harrison's  Landing,  the  following 
dispatch  was  sent  in  reply  : 

WASHINGTON,  July  1,  1862,  3.30  P.  M. 

IV;  is  impossible  to  re-enforce  you  for  your  present  emer- 
gency. If  we  had  a  million  of  men,  we  could  not  get  them  to 
you  in  time.  We  have  not  the  men  to  send.  If  you  are  not 
stroag  enough  to  face  the  enemy,  you  must  find  a  place  of 
seci.rity,  and  wait,  rest,  and  repair.  Maintain  your  ground  if 
you  can,  but  save  the  army  at  all  events,  even  if  you  fall  back 
to  1'ort  Monroe.  We  still  have  strength  enough  in  the  coun- 
try, and  will  bring  it  out.  A.  LINCOLN. 

Maj.-Gen.  G.  B.  McCLELLAN. 

Obviously,  the  chief  concern  in  regard  to  this  army  was  now 
to  preserve  it  from  further  loss — there  having  been,  in  fact, 
apprehensions  through  the  country  that  its  entire  surrender 
would  be  the  ultimate  result,  even  after  it  had  reached  its 
present  comparatively  secure  position.  Indeed,  had  the  num- 
bers under  Lee  at  all  corresponded  with  McClellan's  estimate, 
this  danger  was  still  imminent.  The  enemy  held  one  bank  of 
the  James  river,  the  chief  security  to  our  communications 
being  in  the  fleet  of  gunboats  under  Commodore  Eodgers. 

It  was  under  these  circumstances  that  Gen.  Pope,  having 
unsuccessfully  appealed  to  the  chief  authorities  at  Washington 
to  relieve  him  from  a  ccn.iiiand  from  which  so  little  was  to  l:e 


LIFE  OP  ABRAHAM  LINCOLN.  389 

hoped,  and  in  which  his  high  military  reputation  was  staked  at 
tearful  odds,  issued  an  energetic  address  to  his  army,  with  the 
vigorous  orders  so  offensive  to  his  adversaries,  and  proceeded 
earnestly  to  the  performance  of  the  three-fold  duties  already 
indicated,  drawing  almost  the  entire  army  of  Lee  away  from 
Richmond. 

One  of  Pope's  first  movements  was  the  sending  out  of 
cavalry  detachments  from  Fredericks!) urg,  to  cut  the  Virginia 
Central  railroad  at  several  points.  This  having  been  duly 
accomplished,  orders  were  given  to  Gen.  Banks,  on  the  14th  of 
July,  to  send  forward  all  his  cavalry,  with  an  infantry  support, 
to  occupy  Culpepper  Court  House,  and  to  advance  from  thence 
to  Gordonsville,  destroying  the  railroad  for  ten  or  fifteen  miles 
eastward  from  that  place.  The  cavalry  commander  failed  to 
execute  the  latter  part  of  the  order,  going  only  as  far  as  Madi- 
son Court  House — a  failure  which  cost  him  his  command. 
Jackson's  advance,  under  Ewell,  reached  Gordonsville  on  the 
16th.  Gen.  Pope  took  the  field  in  person  on  the  29th,  and 
the  main  portion  of  his  infantry  and  artillery  was  placed  in 
position,  by  the  7th  of  August,  along  the  turnpike  road  from 
Sperryville  to  Culpepper.  Gen.  Buford,  who  had  been  as- 
signed to  the  command  of  the  cavalry  in  Banks'  corps,  wa? 
posted  at  Madison  Court  House  with  five  regiments,  his  pick- 
ets extending  along  the  Rapidan,  from  Burnett's  Ford  to  the 
Blue  Ridge.  Gen.  Sigel  was  directed  to  send  a  brigade  of 
infantry  and  a  battery  of  artillery,  in  support  of  Buford,  to 
Robertson's  river.  Gen.  Bayard,  with  four  cavalry  regiments, 
was  posted  near  Rapidan  Station,  his  pickets  extending  east- 
ward along  the  Rapidan  to  Raccoon  Ford,  and  westward  to 
meet  those  of  Buford  at  Burnett's  Ford.  Cavalry  pickets  were 
also  stationed  along  the  Rapidan  from  Raccoon  Ford  to  the  con- 
fluence of  that  river  with  the  Rappahannock,  while  King's 
division  of  infantry  remained  opposite  Fredericksburg,  substan- 
tially completing  the  line  to  the  Potomac. 

On  the  8th,  the  enemy  was  reported  in  force  in  front  of  both 
Bayard  and  Buford,  the  former  slowly  falling  back  toward  Cul- 
pepper. Crawford's  brigade,  of  Banks'  corps,  was  sent  toward 
Cedar  mountain,  to  support  Bayard,  and  to  aid  in  ascertaining 
25 


890  LIFE   OP  ABRAHAM   LINCOLN. 

the  numbers  and  intentions  of  the  enemy.  On  the  9th,  Banks 
was  ordered,  with  the  remainder  of  his  corps,  to  join  the  bri- 
gade under  Crawford — Sigel  having  failed,  for  some  reason,  to 
arrive  from  Sperryville,  to  participate  in  this  movement  as 
intended.  Ricketts'  division,  of  McDowell's  corps,  was  posted 
three  miles  in  the  rear  of  Banks,  so  as  to  be  available  for  his 
support,  or  to  be  thrown  toward  Sperryville,  whither  Buford 
was  retreating,  reporting  a  heavy  Rebel  force  advancing  toward 
Culpepper  from  Madison  Court  House. 

During  the  day,  on  the  9th,  and  down  to  five  o'clock,  the 
enemy  did  not  appear  before  Banks,  in  any  considerable  force, 
which  led  that  officer,  contrary  to  the  intentions  of  the  com- 
manding General,  who  merely  desired  the  enemy  at  this  point 
to  be  kept  in  check,  to  advance  two  miles  to  attack.  In  reality, 
he  encountered  a  superior  force  in  a  strong  position,  his  troops 
fighting  bravely.  The  action  lasted  less  than  two  hours,  the 
Government  forces  being  gradually  driven  back  to  their  former 
position,  with  considerable  loss.  Ricketts'  division  now  came 
up  to  their  aid,  with  Gen.  Pope  at  its  head.  A  brisk  artillery 
fire  was  soon  after  commenced,  driving  back  the  enemy  to  his 
former  shelter  in  the  woods. 

Sigel  having  arrived,  his  corps  was  now  advanced  and  that 
of  Banks  withdrawn  toward  Culpepper,  to  be  put  in  condition 
dfter  its  fatigues  and  losses.  King  had  been  telegraphed  for 
at  Fredericksburg  on  the  8th,  and  arrived  on  the  night  of  the 
llth,  which  day  had  been  spent  by  both  parties  in  burying  the 
dead.  Pope,  now  having  numbers  about  equal  to  those  of  the 
enemy,  determined  to  bring  on  a  battle,  by  falling  on  his  line 
of  communications  at  daybreak.  But,  during  the  night,  Jack- 
son retired  hurriedly  across  the  Rapidan,  toward  Gordonsville, 
leaving  behind  many  of  his  dead  and  wounded.  Gen.  Pope 
reports  a  loss  of  about  1,800  men,  in  killed,  wounded  and 
prisoners. 

A  cavalry  force,  under  Buford  and  Bayard,  followed  the 
enemy  to  the  Rapidan,  capturing  many  stragglers.  Thereupon 
the  cavalry  resumed  its  former  position,  on  the  line  of  the 
Rapidan,  from  Raccoon  Ford  to  the  Blue  Ridge. 

On  the  14th,  Pope  had  an  accession  to  his  strength,  by  the 


LIFE   OF   ABRAHAM   LINCOLN.  391 

arrival  of  Gen.  Reno,  with  8,000  men  from  the  forces  of  Gen. 
Burnside  (Ninth  Corps),  which  had  arrived.at  Falmouth.  The 
army  was  then  advanced,  taking  a  favorable  position,  with  its 
right,  under  Sigel,  resting  on  Robertson's  river;  the  center, 
under  McDowell,  occupying  both  flanks  of  Cedar  mountain, 
and  the  left,  under  Reno,  taking  position  near  Raccoon  Ford, 
covering  the  road  thence  to  Stevensburg  and  Culpepper  Court 
House.  The  cavalry,  meanwhile,  continued  to  operate  on  the 
communications  of  the  enemy,  who  was  receiving  heavy  reen- 
forcements  from  Richmond.  A  cavalry  expedition  sent  toward 
Louisa  Court  House,  on  the  16th,  captured  the  Adjutant  Gen- 
eral of  Stuart,  and.  among  other  papers,  an  autograph  letter 
from  Gen.  Robert  E.  Lee  to  the  latter,  showing  the  plans  of 
the  enemy  to  mass  an  overwhelming  force  in  Pope's  front,  and 
to  fall  upon  him  before  he  could  be  reenforced  from  the  Army 
of  the  Potomac.  Despairing  of  such  assistance  in  holding  his 
present  strong  position,  Pope  made  the  best  dispositions  in  his 
power  for  withdrawing  behind  the  Rappahannock,  which  move- 
ment was  executed  with  great  skill  and  expedition,  on  the  night 
of  the  18th,  and  during  the  day  of  the  19th. 

It  now  becomes  necessary  to  return  to  the  Army  of  the  Poto- 
mac, the  presence  and  cooperation  of  which  had  become  so 
essential  to  success  at  this  critical  juncture. 

During  the  first  days  of  July,  Gen.  McClellan  had  been  en- 
deavoring to  render  his  new  position  as  secure  as  possible.  It 
was  early  manifest  that  a  withdrawal  of  his  force,  to  aid  in  the 
operations  before  Washington,  did  not  accord  with  his  indi- 
vidual views.  To  the  last,  he  was  extremely  loath  to  abandon 
the  Peninsula.  On  the  4th  of  July,  McClellan  had  said,  in  a 
dispatch  to  the  President :  "Our  communications  by  the  James 
river  are  not  secure.  There  are  points  where  the  enemy  can 
establish  themselves  with  cannon  or  musketry  and  command 
the  river,  and  where  it  is  not  certain  that  our  gunboats  can 
drive  them  out."  At  the  same  date,  before  receiving  the  dis- 
patch just  quoted  from,  the  President,  still  anxious  in  regard 
to  the  preservation  of  McClcllan's  remaining  force,  and  without 
having  definitely  determined  on  the  course  to  be  pursued  with 
regard  to  it,  wrote  him  as  follows : 


892  LIFE    OF   AliRAllA-U    LLM'OLJN'. 

WAR  DEPARTMENT, 
/  ^,  ,         WASHINGTON  CITY,  D.  C.,  July  4,  1862. 

I  understand  your  position  as  stated  in  ycur  letter,  and  'by 
Gen.  Marcy.  To  re-enforce  you  so  as  to  enable  you  to  resume 
the  offensive  within  a  mouth,  or  even  six  weeks,  is  impossible. 
In  addition  to  that  arrived  and  now  arriving  from  the  Potomac, 
(about  ten  thousand  men,  I  suppose),  and  about  ten  thousand 
I  hope  you  will  have  from  Burnside  very  soon,  and  about  five 
thousand  from  Hunter  a  little  later,  I  do  not  see  how  I  can 
send  you  another  man  within  a  month.  Under  these  circum- 
stances, the  defensive,  for  the  present,  must  be  your  only  care. 
Save  the  army,  first,  where  you  are,  if  you  can,  and,  secondly, 
by  removal,  if  you  must.  You,  on  the  ground,  must  be  the 
judge  as  to  which  you  will  attempt,  and  of  the  means  for  effect- 
ing it.  I  but  give  it  as  my  opinion,  that  with  the  aid  of  the 
gunboats  and  the  re-enforcements  mentioned  above,  you  can 
hold  your  present  position ;  provided,  and  so  long  as  you  can 
keep  the  James  river  open  below  you.  If  you  are  not  tolerably 
confident  you  can  keep  the  James  river  open,  you  had  better 
remove  as  soon  as  possible.  I  do  not  remember  that  you  have 
expressed  any  apprehension  as  to  the  danger  of  having  your 
communications  cut  on  the  river  below  you,  yet  I  do  not  sup- 
pose it  can  have  escaped  your  attention. 

Yours,  very  truly,  A.  LINCOLN. 

Maj.-Gen.  MCCLELLAN. 

P.  S. — If  at  any  time  you  feel  able  to  take  the  offensive,  you 
are  not  restrained  from  doing  so.  A.  L. 

McClellan  replied,  on  the  7th  :  "  My  position  is  very  strong, 
and  daily  becoming  more  so.  If  not  attacked  to-day,  I  shall 
laugh  at  them.  I  have  been  anxious  about  my  communica- 
tions  Alarm  yourself  as  little  as  possible  about  me,  and 

don't  lose  confidence  in  this  army."  At  the  same  date,  ho 
wrote  a  long  letter  to  the  President,  volunteering  a  statement 
of  his  "general  views  concerning  the  existing  state  of  the  rebel- 
lion." He  reminds  Mr.  Lincoln  that  "  the  Rebel  army  is  in 
the  front,  with  the  purpose  of  overwhelming  us  by  attacking 
our  positions  or  reducing  us  by  blocking  our  river  commu- 
nications." He  "can  not  but  regard"  his  "  condition$as  criti- 
cal." The  singularity  of  one  sitting  down,  under  such  circum- 
stances, to  write  a  political  disquisition,  as  if  he  were  the 
veriest  gentleman  of  leisure, 'is  more  striking  than  any  thing 


LIFE   OP   ABBAHAM    LINCOLN.  393 

in  the  document  itself.  Two  or  three  paragraphs  in  this  letter 
(dated  July  7,  1862,  and  published  at  length  in  the  writer's 
last  official  report)  will  serve  to  show  its  quality : 

Our  cause  must  never  be  abandoned  ;  it  is  the  cause  of  free 
institutions  and  self-government.  Tho  Constitution  and  the 
Union  must  be  preserved,  whatever  may  be  the  cost  in  time, 
treasure,  and  blood.  If  secession  is  successful,  other  dissolu- 
tions are  clearly  to  be  seen  in  the  future.  .  Let  neither  military 
di?aster,  political  faction,  nor  foreign  war  shake  your  settled 
purpose  to  enforce  the  equal  operation  of-  the  laws  of  the 
United  States  upon  the  people  of  every  State.  The  time  has 
come  when  the  Government  must  determine  upon  a  civil  and 
military  policy,  covering  the  whole  ground  of  our  National 
trouble 

This  rebellion  has  assumed  the  character  of  a  war ;  as  such 
it  should  be  regarded,  and  it  should  be  conducted  upon  the 
highest  principles  known  to  Christian  civilization.  It  should 
not  be  a  war  looking  to  the  subjugation  of  the  people  of  any 
State,  in  any  event.  It  should  not  be  at  all  a  war  upon  popu- 
lation, but  against  armed  forces  and  political  organizations. 
Neither  confiscation  of  property,  political  executions  of  per- 
sons, territorial  organization  of  States,  or  forcible  abolition  of 
slavery  should  be  contemplated  for  a  moment.  .  .  . 

Unless  the  principles  governing  the  future  conduct  of  our 
struggle  shall  be  made  known  and  approved,  the  effort  to  obtain 
requisite  forces  will  be  almost  hopeless.  A  declaration  of  radi- 
cal views,  especially  upon  slavery,  will  rapidly  disintegrate  our 
present  armies.  The  policy  of  tlje  Government  must  be  sup- 
ported by  concentrations  of  military  power.  The  National  forces 
should  not  bexlispersed  in  expeditions,  posts  of  occupation,  and 
numerous  armies,  but  should  be  mainly  collected  into  masses, 
and  brought  to  bear  upon  the  armies  of  the  Confederate  States. 
Those  armies  thoroughly  defeated,  the  political  structure  which 
they  support  would  soon  cease  to  exist. 

From  time  to  time,  Gen.  McClellan  continued  to  urge  the 
policy  of  preparing  his  army  to  advance  on  Richmond  from  its 
present  position.  He  called  for  reinforcements,  asking  a  con- 
centration under  his  command  of  t;  every  thiiig  we  can  possibly 
spare  from  less  important  points,  to  make  sure  of  crushing  the 
enemy  at  Richmond,  which  seems  clearly  to  be  the  most  impor- 
tant point  in  rebeldom."  The  President  visited  Harrison's 
Landing  on  the  8th  of  July,  and  in  company  with  the  Com- 


394  LIFE  OF  ABRAHAM  LINCOLN. 

manding  General,  reviewed  the  Army  of  the  Potomac.  For 
an  entire  month,  scarcely  so  much  as  a  reconnoissance  in  force 
occurred  to  break  the  monotony  of  life  in  that  unhealthy 
locality.  On  the  30th,  Gen.  Halleck  suggested  that  the  enemy 
at  Richmond  he  pressed,  to  ascertain  the  strength  of  his  force 
there.  Finally,  on  the  4th  of  August,  one  day  after  being 
ordered  to  prepare  for  a  prompt  withdrawal  to  Acquia  Creek,  the 
divisions  of  Hooker  and  Sedgwick,  by  order  of  Gen.  McClellan, 
advanced  and  turned  Malvern  Hill,  causing  the  Rebel  force 
which  had  occupied  that  position  to  retreat  toward  Richmond. 
Col.  Averill,  on  the  evening  of  the  5th,  returned  from  a  cavalry 
reconnoissance  in  the  direction  of  Savage's  Station,  and  McClel- 
lan announced :  "  Our  troops  have  advanced  twelve  miles  in 
one  direction,  and  seventeen  in  another,  toward  Richmond 
to-day."  Meanwhile,  he  had  commenced  sending  off  his  sick 
and  disabled  soldiers,  as  directed  by  Gen.  Halleck,  on  the  30th 
of  July — the  order  being  repeated,  with  emphasis,  on  the  2d 
of  August.  On  the  6th,  he  was  ordered  to  send,  "  imme- 
diately,"^ regiment  of  cavalry  and  several  batteries  of  artil- 
lery to  Burnside's  command  at  Acquia  Creek.  Instead  of 
promptly  complying  with  this  order,  Gen.  McClellan 
returned  a  dispatch  offering  reasons  for  non-compliance,  and 
promising  to  "  obey  the  order  as  soon  as  circumstances  per- 
mit." It  was  partly  complied  with  a  day  or  two  later. 

From  .the  3d  of  August,  when  he  was  directed  to  take  "  im- 
mediate measures"  for  withdrawing  his  army  from  the  Penin- 
sula, Gen.  McClellan  earnestly  resisted  this  order,  until,  on  the 
6th,  he  was  definitively  informed :  "  The  order  will  not  be 
rescinded,  and  you  will  be  expected  to  execute  it  with  all  pos- 
sible promptness."  Gen.  Halleck,  who  had  not  determined  on 
this  course,  until  he  had  visited  Gen.  McClellan  in  camp, 
respectfully  considered  the  views  presented  against  it,  and 
wrote  him  at  length,  assigning  the  following,  among  other 
reasons,  for  the  policy  adopted : 

You  and  your  officers  at  our  interview  estimated  the  enemy's 
forces  in  and  around  Richmond  at  200,000  men.  Since  then, 
you  and  others  report  that  they  have  received,  and  are  receiv- 
ing, large  re-enforcements  from  the  South.  Gen.  Pope's  army, 


LIFE   OF   ABRAHAM   LINCOLN.  395 

covering  Washington,  is  only  about  40,000.  Your  effective  force 
is  only  about  90,000.  You  are  thirty  miles  from  Richmond,  and 
Gen.  Pope,  eighty  or  ninety,  with  the  enemy  directly  between 
you,  ready  to  fall  with  his  superior  numbers  upon  one  or  the 
other,  as  he  may  elect ;  neither  can  re-enforce  the  other  in  case 
of  such  an  attack. 

If  Gen.  Pope's  army  be  diminished  to  re-enforce  you,  Wash- 
ington, Maryland  and  Pennsylvania  would  be  left  uncovered 
and  exposed.  If  your  force  be  reduced  to  strengthen  Pope, 
you  would  be  too  weak  to  even  hold  the  position  you  now  oc- 
cupy, should  the  enemy  turn  round  and  attack  you  in  full  force. 
In  other  words,  the  old  Army  of  the  Potomac  is  split  into  two 
parts,  with  the  entire  force  of  the  enemy  directly  between  them. 
They  can  not  be  united  by  land  without  exposing  both  to 
destruction,  and  yet  they  must  be  united.  To  send  Pope's 
forces  by  water  to  the  Peninsula  is,  under  present  circum- 
stances, a  military  impossibility.  The  only  alternative  is  to 
send  the  forces  on  the  Peninsula  to  some  point  by  water,  say 
Fredericksburg,  where  the  two  armies  can  be  united.  *  * 

But  you  will  reply,  why  not  re-enforce  me  here,  so  that  I 
can  strike  Richmond  from  my  present  position  ?  To  do  this, 
you  said,  at  our  interview,  that  you  required  30,000  additional 
troops.  I  told  you  that  it  was  impossible  to  give  you  so  many. 
You  finally  thought  you  would  have  some  chance  of  succe.ss 
with  20,000.  But  you  afterward  telegraphed  me  that  you 
would  require  35,000,  as  the  enemy  was  being  largely  re- 
enforcfd. 

If  your  estimate  of  the  enemy's  strength  was  correct,  your 
requisition  was  perfectly  reasonable  ;  but  it  was  utterly  impos- 
sible to  fill  it  until  new  troops  could  be  enlisted  and  organized, 
which  would  require  several  weeks. 

To  keep  your  army  in  its  present  position  until  it  could  be 
so  re-enforced,  would  almost  destroy  it  in  that  climate. 

The  months  of  August  and  September  are  almost  fatal  to 
whites  who  live  on  that  part  of  James  river  ;  and  even  after 
you  received  the  re-enforcements  asked  for,  you  admitted  that 
you  must  reduce  Fort  Darling  and  the  river  batteries  before 
you  could  advance  on  Richmond. 

It  is  by  no  means  certain  that  the  reduction  of  these  fortifi- 
cations would^not  require  considerable  time — perhaps  as  much 
as  those  at  Yorktown. 

This  delay  might  not  only  be  fatal  to  the  health  of  youi 
army,  but  in  the  mean  time  Gen.  Pope's  forces  would  be  ex- 
posed to  the  heavy  blows  of  the  enemy  without  the  slightest 
hope  of  assistance  from  you. 

In  regard  to  the  demoralizing  effect  of  a  withdrawal  from 


396  LIFE  OP  ABRAHAM  LINCOLN. 

the  Peninsula  to  the  Kappahannock,  I  must  remark  that  a  large 
number  of  your  highest  officers,  indeed  a  majority  of  those 
whose  opinions  have  heen  reported  to  me,  are  decidedly  in  favor 
of  the  movement.  Even  several  of  those  who  originally  advo- 
cated the  line  of  the  Peninsula,  now  advise  its  abandonment. 

This  final  decision  was  telegraphed  to  McClellan  on  the  6th. 
Pope's  situation  on  the  Rapidan,  as  already  seen,  was  becoming 
critical,  and  yet,  on  the  9th,  Gen.  Halleck  found  occasion  to 
telegraph  as  follows  : 

WASHINGTON,  August  9,  1862,  12.45  P.  M. 

I  am  of  the  opinion  that  the  enemy  is  massing  his  forces  in 
front  of  Gens.  Pope  and  Burnside,  and  that  he  expects  to  crush 
them  and  move  forward  to  the  Potomac. 

You  must  send  re-enforcements  instantly  to  Acquia  Creek. 

Considering  the  amount  of  transportation  at  your  disposal, 
your  delay  is  not  satisfactory.  You  must  move  with  all  possi- 
ble celerity.  H.  W.  HALLECK, 

Major-General. 

Maj.-Gen.  G.  B.  McCLELLAN. 

He  received  in  reply :  "  There  has  been  no  unnecessary 
delay,  as  you  assert — not  an  hour's — but  every  thing  has  been 
and  is  being  pushed  as  rapidly  as  possible  to  carry  out  your 
orders."  On  the  10th,  a  full  week  after  the  original  order, 
Gen.  Halleck  again  telegraphed :  "  The  enemy  is  crossing  the 
Rapida*  in  large  force.  They  are  fighting  Gen.  Pope  to-day. 
There  must  be  no  further  delay  in  your  movements.  That 
which  has  already  occurred  was  entirely  unexpected,  and  must 
be  satisfactorily  explained."  The  chief  excuse  for  this  delay 
was  the  want  of  sufficient  transportation.  He  had  not  yet  dis- 
posed of  even  the  sick — a  work  required  to  be  at  once  proceeded 
with,  as  early  as  the  30th  of  July.  But  even  this  imperfect 
explanation  is  set  aside  by  Gen.  Halleck  in  the  following  reply, 
(August  12th)  :  "  The  Quartermaster  General  informs  me  that 
nearly  every  available  steam  vessel  in  the  country  is  now  under 

your  control Burnside  moved  nearly  13,000  troops  to 

Acquia  Creek  in  less  than  two  days,  and  his  transports  were 
immediately  sent  back  to  you.  All  the  vessels  in  the  James 
river  and  the  Chesapeake  Bay  were  placed  at  your  disposal 


LIFE  OF  ABRAHAM  LINCOLN'.  397 

and  it  was  supposed  that  eight  or  ten  thousand  of  your  men 

could  be  transported  daily There  has  been,  and  is,  the 

most  urgent  necessity  for  dispatch,  and  not  a  single  moment 
must  be  lost  in  getting  additional  troops  in  front  of  Washing- 
ton." Gen.  McClellan  again  asseverates,  in  reply,  that  he  is 
doing  all  he  can,  and  actually  says,  (August  12th),  nine  days 
after  the  order  to  move  :  "  If  Washington  is  in  danger  now, 
this  army  can  scarcely  arrive  in  time  to  save  it ;  it  is  in  much 
better  position  to  do  so  from  here  than  from  Acquia." 

Two  or  three  days  later,  in  a  dispatch  dated  August  14,  11 
P.  M.,  McClellan  at  length  announced  :  "  Movement  has  com- 
menced by  land  and  water.  All  sick  will  be  away  to-morrow 
night "  —  the  "  movement  "  referred  to  being,  as  he  states  in 
his  final  report,  that  "  of  the  main  army."  At  noon  on  the 
15th,  we  find  him  saying  :  "  Two  of  my  army  corps  marched 
last  night  and  this  morning  en  route  for  Yorktown  —  one  via 
Jon  js'  Bridge,  and  the  other  via  Barrett's  Ferry,  where  we  have 
a  pontoon  bridge.  The  other  corps  will  be  pushed  forward  as 
fast  as  the  roads  are  clear;  and  I  hope  before  to-morrow  morn- 
ing to  have  the  entire  army  in  motion."  In  a  word,  under  the 
most  urgent  orders  to  hasten  to  Washington,  at  a  time  of 
imminent  danger,  nearly  two  iceeks  expire  before  the  march  is 
commenced.  The  remainder  of  the  movement  was  executed  in 
accordance  with  this  beginning. 

On  the  21st,  eighteen  days  after  the  order  to  move  was  given, 
Uen.  Halleck  sends  the  following  to  McClellan,  then  at  Fortress 
Monroe :  "  The  forces  of  Burnside  and  Pope  are  hard  pushed,  and 
j  equire  aid  as  rapidly  as  you  can  send  it.  Come  yourself  as  soon 
as  you  can.  By  all  means,  see  that  the  troops  senfc  have  plenty  of 
ammunition.  We  have  no  time  here  to  supply  them.  Moreover, 
they  may  have  to  fight  as  soon  as  they  land."  McClellan  replied : 
"  I  have  ample  supplies  of  ammunition  for  infantry  and  artillery, 
and  will  have  it  up  in  time.  I  can  supply  any  deficiency  that 
may  exist  in  Gen.  Pope's  army."  Leaving  the  corps  of  Gen. 
Keves  to  occupy  Yorktown,  and  Sumner's  corps  waiting  for 
transportation,  the  remainder  of  the  troops  having  at  length 
embarked,  McClellan  sailed  from  Fortress  Monroe  for  Acquia 
Creek  on  the  evening  of  August  23,  and  reported  from  that 


398  LIFE   OF   ABRAHAM    LINCOLN. 

place  on  the  morning  of  the  24th.     On  the  27th,  he  reached 
Alexandria. 

Gen.  Pope,  having  promptly  executed  his  retrograde  move- 
ment, had  his  men  in  a  strong  position  on  the  Rappahannock 
line,  with  the  following  dispositions  on  the  20th  August :  The 
right,  under  Sigel,  was  posted  three  miles  above  Rappahannock 
Station,  on  the  left  bank  of  the  river,  and  connecting  closely 
with  McDowell  in  the  center,  near  that  point,  and  the  left 
keeping  open  the  connection  with  Fredericksburg,  whence  reen- 
forcements  from  the  Army  of  the  Potomac  were  partly  to 
come.  Repeated  calls  were  made  from  Washington  for  addi- 
tional forces  to  cover  his  right,  which  could  not  be  further 
extended  without  exposing  this  necessary  connection  on  the 
left,  and  which  was  strongly  threatened  by  the  enemy.  Ample 
time  had  passed,  since  the  order  of  August  3,  for  the  arrival 
of  the  requisite  force  for  this  purpose  from  the  Peninsula,  but 
the  tardy  movement  of  McClellan  had  rendered  this  reenforce- 
ment,  reasonably  expected,  as  yet  impossible.  The  enemy,  now 
in  strong  force,  confronted  Pope  from  Kelly's  Ford,  to  a  point 
beyond  his  extreme  right.  On  the  21st  and  22d,  attempts 
were  made  by  the  Rebels  to  cross  the  river  at  several  points, 
but  in  every  instance  they  were  repulsed.  Pope  was  urged  to 
make  every  exertion  to  hold  out  for  two  days  longer,  when  it 
was  believed  his  line  would  be  adequately  strengthened.  But 
up  to  the  25th,  the  only  forces  that  had  arrived  in  his  vicinity, 
except  the  detachment  under  Reno,  from  Burnside's  corps, 
were  2,500  of  the  Pennsylvania  Reserves,  under  Gen.  Reynolds, 
which  reached  Kelly's  Ford,  and  Kearney's  division,  4,500 
strong,  at  Warrenton  Junction.  The  evident  movements  of  the 
enemy  to  turn  his  right,  caused  the  Commanding  General  much 
uneasiness,  but  the  necessity  of  maintaining  his  communication 
on  the  left  was  still  imperative.  Sigel  was  instructed  to  stand 
firm,  allowing  the  enemy  to  cross  at  Sulphur  Springs,  and  move 
toward  Warrenton,  when  Pope  determined  to  mass  his  force  to 
the  right  for  the  purpose  of  falling  upon  the  enemy's  advance. 
All  of  the  cavalry,  under  Buford  and  Bayard,  were  pushed  to 
the  right  of  Sigel,  toward  Fayetteville  and  Sulphur  Springs,  to 
picket  the  river  and  to  watch  the  enemy's  movements.  On  the 


LIFE   OF   ABRAHAM   LINCOLN.  399 

night  of  the  22d,  a  small  cavalry  force  made  an  attack  on  our 
army  trains  at  Catlett's  Station,  doing  no  great  damage.  The 
right  of  Pope  being  still  heavily  threatened,  while  a  strong 
force  was  massed  in  his  front  at  Rappahannock  Station,  he 
formed  the  bold  plan  of  concentrating  his  force,  recrossing  the 
Rappahannock,  and  assailing  the  flank  and  rear  of  the  opposing 
army.  On  the  morning  of  the  23d,  his  forces  were  collected 
for  this  purpose  near  Rappahannock  Station.  The  river  had 
meanwhile  suddenly  risen,  and  finding  that  a  crossing  could 
not  be  effected  in  less  than  thirty-six  hours,  the  plan  was 
changed.  Sigel's  corps,  supported  by  those  of  Banks  and 
Reno,  were  ordered  to  Sulphur  Springs,  to  attack  any  force 
fallen  in  with,  and  to  advance  to  Waterloo  Bridge.  McDowell, 
to  whose  command  the  reinforcements  under  Reynolds  were 
attached,  was  moved  directly  upon  Warrenton,  to  unite  with 
Sigel,  if  occasion  should  require,  on  the  road  from  thence  to  Sul- 
phur Springs  or  Waterloo  Bridge. 

It  was  ascertained  that,  on  the  afternoon  of  the  24th,  the 
whole  force  of  the  enemy  was  extended  along  the  river,  from 
Rappahannock  Station  to  Waterloo  Bridge,  his  center  being 
near  Sulphur  Springs.  During  the  day,  a  large  Rebel  force 
moved  rapidly  northward  toward  Rectortown,  west  of  Bull  Run 
Mountains,  (which  are  crossed  by  the  Manassas  railroad  at 
Thoroughfare  Gap.)  This  movement  clearly  evinced  a  pur- 
pose to  fTirn  the  right  of  Pope's  army  by  way  of  White  Plains 
and  Thoroughfare  Gap.  Gen.  Pope,  feeling  bound,  as  he  says, 
by  his  instructions  to  maintain  his  communication  with  Frede- 
ricksburg,  and  having  assurances  that  30,000  men  were  to  be 
sent  forward  that  day,  or  the  next  morning,  did  not  imme- 
diately change  his  position  to  meet  that  emergency.  The  main 
force  of  the  enemy  steadily  tending  in  the  same  direction  as 
the  advance,  he  determined,  on  the  night  of  the  25th,  to  aban- 
don the  lower  fords  of  the  Rappahannock,  and  directed 
McDowell,  with  his  own  corps  and  that  of  Sigel,  to  hold  War- 
renton, while  Reno  was  pushed  forward  three  miles  on  the 
Warrenton  turnpike,  and  Fitz  John  Porter,  who  had  now 
reported  to  him  from  near  Bealton  Station,  was  ordered  to  join 
Reno.  Heintzelinan'a  corps  was  left  at  Warrenton  Junction, 


400  LIFE   OF   ABRAHAM    LINCOLN. 

with  the  intention  of  being  sent,  at  the  proper  time,  to  Green- 
wich, intermediate  between  Warrenton  and  Gainesville.  It  was 
requested  of  Gen.  Halleck  that  Franklin's  corps  should  be 
hastened  to  Gainesville,  and  that  a  strong  division  of  the 
Peninsular  troops  should  be  posted  at  Manassas  Junction.  All 
the  cavalry  at  that  place  was  ordered  to  be  sent  forward  to 
Thoroughfare  Gap,  for  observation.  Gen.  Kearney  was  directed 
to  post  strong  guards  all  along  the  railroad  in  his  rear,  from 
Warrenton  Junction  southward,  while  Gen.  Sturgis  was  charged 
with  the  performance  of  a  like  duty  from  Manassas  Junction 
to  Catlett's  Station.  It  was  confidently  expected  by  Gen.  Pope 
that  these  several  dispositions  would  have  been  completed  by 
the  afternoon  of  the  26th. 

Jackson  advanced  through  Thoroughfare  Gap,  as  anticipa- 
ted, and  at  8  o'clock  P.  M.,  on  the  26th,  he  had  cut  the  rail- 
road six  miles  east  of  Warrenton  Junction,  near  Kettle  Run. 
A  sharp  action  ensued  on  the  27th  between  Hooker  and  Ewell, 
near  Bristow,  in  which  the  latter  was  beaten.  No  report  had 
been  made  by  the  cavalry  sent  to  watch  the  enemy's  movement, 
and  it  now  became  manifest  to  the  commanding  General  that 
the  re-enforcements  so  confidently  expected  on  the  assurances 
given,  had  failed  to  come  to  his  support.  His  plans,  otherwise 
likely  to  have  been  successful  in  stopping  Jackson's  advance, 
were  thus  foiled.  He  determined  to  throw  the  forces  he  had 
upon  the  enemy,  moving  toward  Manassas  and  Gainesville,  and 
getting  between  Lee's  army  and  Bull  Run.  His  entire  force, 
much  of  which  was  greatly  exhausted  by  continual  marching 
or  fighting,  during  the  last  nine  days,  now  numbered  about 
54,000.  On  the  morning  of  the  27th  he  proceeded  to  execute 
the  purpose  just  indicated. 

McDowell  reached  Gainesville  during  the  night  of  the  27th, 
as  directed,  and  Kearney  and  Reno  took  position  at  Greenwich, 
according  to  orders,  communicating  with  McDowell.  This  force 
was  thus  successfully  interposed  between  the  main  army  of 
Lee.  still  west  of  the  Bull  Run  Mountains,  near  White  Plains, 
and  the  forces  of  Jackson,  Ewell,  and  A.  P.  Hill,  now  south  of 
the  Warrenton  turnpike,  in  the  immediate  vicinity  of  Manassas* 
Junction.  It  was  now  that  Gen.  Pope,  feeling  that  Jackson 


LIFE   OF   ABRAHAM   LINCOLN.  401 

was  completely  in  his  power,  ordered  Fitz  John  Porter,  with 
his  command  of  fresh  troops,  to  move  at  1  o'clock  the  next 
morning  to  Bristow  Station,  with  a  view  to  complete  the  work 
of  inclosing  and  crushing  Jackson.  This  order  was  defiantly 
disregarded,  as  charged  by  Gen.  Pope,  and  as  subsequently 
proved  to  the  full  satisfaction  of  a  court-martial,  by  whose  ver- 
dict Porter,  for  this  and  other  acts  during  the  two  or  three  days 
ensuing,  was  ignominiously  dismissed  from  the  service.  Kear- 
ney, having  been  moved  to  Bristow  Station,  was  sent  thence, 
followed  by  Hooker,  (whose  command,  notwithstanding  the 
orders  of  Gen.  Halleck,  and  the  lavish  promises  of  McClellau 
in  reply,  was  almost  entirely  destitute  of  ammunition),  in  pur- 
suit of  Ewell  toward  Manassas.  Porter's  corps  did  not  arrive 
at  Bristow  until  half  past  10  o'clock  in  the  morning  of  the 
28th.  Meanwhile,  Jackson  had  evacuated  Manassas  Junction, 
very  early  that  morning.  Sigel's  corps,  in  the  advance  at 
Gainesville,  had  also  failed  to  move  on  Manassas  as  expeditiously 
as  was  intended,  otherwise  the  retreat  of  Jackson  would  have 
been  intercepted  before  he  reached  Bull  Run.  The  command- 
ing General  reached  Manassas  Junction,  with  Reno's  corps  and 
Kearney's  division,  within  an  hour  after  Jackson  in  person  had 
left  for  Centreville.  Hooker,  Kearney  and  Reno  were  imme- 
diately sent  forward  toward  the  latter  place,  and  Porter  was 
ordered  to  bring  up  his  corps.  McDowell  was  also  apprised  of 
the  state  of  affairs,  and  ordered  to  recall  his  troops  advancing 
on  Manassas,  (as  directed  before  Jackson's  retreat  was  begun,) 
and  to  move  out  the  road  from  Gainesville  toward  Centreville. 
Near  night,  Gen.  Kearney  drove  Jackson's  rear-guard  out  of 
the  latter  place,  occupying  it  about  dark,  with  his  advance  a 
little  beyond.  McDowell,  who  had  with  him  Sigel's  corps  and 
Reynolds'  division,  in  addition  to  his  own  corps,  (from  which 
the  division  of  Ricketts  had  been  detached  in  the  direction  of 
Thoroughfare  Gap),  encountered  the  advance  of  Jackson  about 
6  o'clock  in  the  evening,  and  a  conflict  ensued,  lasting  until 
dark,  when  each  force  held  its  ground.  Contrary  to  expecta- 
tion, however,  King's  division,  which  had  sustained  the  princi- 
pal part  in  this  action,  withdrew  during  the  night,  and  Rick- 
etts  had  been  driven  back  from  the  Gap,  retiring  upon  Bristow 
34 


402  LIFE   Or   ABRAHAM    LINCOLN. 

**"  ^ 

Station.  The  party  assailing  Ricketts  was  the  advance  of 
Longstreet,  sent  to  re- enforce  Jackson. 

Gen.  Sigel,  supported  by  Reynolds,  was  directed  to  attack 
Jackson  on  the  29th,  and  Gen.  Heintzelman,  with  the  divisions 
of  Hooker  and  Kearney,  was  ordered  forward  from  Centreville 
t3  attack  the  enemy  in  the  rear.  Orders  were  sent  to  McDow- 
ell and  Porter  to  move  forward,  with  their  two  corps,  to  Gaines- 
ville, with  all  haste,  to  participate  in  the  battle.  Sigel  began 
the  attack  at  daylight,  (on  the  29th),  a  mile  or  two  east  of 
Groveton,  where  he  was  soon  joined  by  Hooker  and  Kearney. 
Jackson  at  first  attempted  to  avoid  an  engagement  by  falling 
back,  but  was  compelled  to  take  a  stand,  having  his  right  a  little 
south  of  the  "Warrentou  turnpike,  and  his  left  near  Sudley 
Springs.  His  line  was  covered  by  an  old  railroad  grade,  ex- 
tending from  Gainesville  toward  Leesburg.  The  engagement 
was  a  severe  and  protracted  one.  Porter  having  entirely  failed 
to  bring  his  men  into  action  as  ordered,  Jackson,  though  his 
forces  were  badly  cut  up.  was  able  to  hold  out  until  Longstreet, 
with  the  advance  of  Lee's  main  army,  near  night  came  up  to 
his  support. 

The  losses  were  very  heavy  on  both  sides,  Gen.  Pope 
estimating  his  killed  and  wounded  at  six  or  eight  thou- 
sand. That  of  the  enemy  was  very  much  greater. 

The  battle  of  the  30th,  the  enemy  being  thus  re-enforced, 
was  fought  under  great  disadvantages,  near  the  old  battle- 
ground of  Bull  Run.  The  Government  troops  fought  with 
great  bravery,  maintaining  their  position  with  remarkable  firm- 
ness amidst  heavy  losses,  though  the  left  was  gradually  forced 
back.  Pope  had  boldly  attacked,  in  the  morning,  to  anticipate 
the  arrival  of  further  re-enforcements  to  the  enemy  by  Thor- 
oughfare Gap.  It  was  not  until  dark  that  this  sanguinary 
engagement  ceased,  when  our  left  had  receded  nearly  three- 
fourths  of  a  mile,  though  with  unbroken  ranks  and  in  good 
order,  the  turnpike  in  the  rear,  which  the  enemy  had  endeavored 
to  occupy,  being  still  well  covered.  The  losses  on  both  sjdes 
were  very  heavy. 

Gen.  Pope's  army  was  not  only  exhausted  with  hard  work 
before  the  commencement  of  this  day's  fight,  but  was  also 


LIFE   OF  ABRAHAM   LINCOLN.  403 

becoming  destitute  of  supplies.  To  an  urgent  request  on  the 
28th  for  rations  and  forage,  to  be  promptly  forwarded,  he  re- 
ceived the  following  reply  on  the  morning  of  the  30th : 

To  THE  COMMANDING  OFFICER  AT  CENTREVILLE  :  I  hare 
been  instructed  by  Gen.  McClellan  to  inform  you  that  he  will 
have  all  the  available  wagons  at  Alexandria  loaded  with  rations 
for  your  troops,  and  all  the  cars  also,  as  soon  as  you  will  send  in  a 
cavalry  escort  to  Alexandria  as  a  guard  to  the  train. 

Respectfully,  W.  B.  FRANKLIN, 

Major-General  commanding  Sixth  Corps. 

"  Such  a  letter,"  says  Gen.  Pope,  "  when  we  were  fighting 
the  enemy,  and  Alexandria  was  swarming  with  troops,  needs 
no  comment."  Neither  Sumner's  corps  nor  Franklin's  had  as 
yet  been  advanced  to  render  any  aid  in  a  military  crisis,  which 
urgently  demanded  the  presence  of  every  available  man  at  the 
scene  of  action.  Another  corps,  commanded  by  McClellan's 
chief  favorite,  Fitz  John  Porter,  though  close  at  hand,  had  been 
found  equally  wanting  at  Groveton,  through  the  deliberate  dis- 
obedience of  its  commander,  though  it  took  part  in  the  battle 
of  the  30th.  Gen.  McClellan  was,  meanwhile,  quietly  waiting 
at  Alexandria,  having  been  ordered  by  Gen.  Halleck,  on  the 
27th,  to  "  take  entire  direction  of  the  sending  out  of  the  troops 
from  Alexandria  ;"  and  having  also  been  told  on  the  same  day, 
that  "  Franklin's  corps  should  march"  to  Manassas  "as  soon 
as  possible."  On  the  previous  day,  the  26th,  Sumner's  corps 
commenced  disembarking  at  Acquia  Creek.  While  thus 
leisurely  waiting,  charged  with  the  duty  of  promptly  sending 
indispensable  re-enforcements  to  Pope,  yet  neglecting  to  send 
even  the  needed  supplies  to  the  troops  he  already  had,  McClel- 
lan was*  sending  such  suggestions  to  Washington  as  the  fol- 
lowing : 

I  am  clear  that  one  of  two  courses  should  be  adopted  :  First, 
to  concentrate  all  our  available  forces  to  open  communications 
with  Pope  ;  Second,  to  leave  Pope  to  get  out  of  his  scrape,  and 
at  once  use  all  our  means  to  make  the  Capital  perfectly  safe. 

To  this  the  President  replied  : 


404  LIFE    OF   ABRAHAM   LINCOLN. 

WASHINGTON,  August  29,  1862,  4.10  P.  M. 

Yours  of  to-day  just  received.  I  think  your  first  alternative, 
to-wit. :  "to  concentrate  all  our  available  forces  to  open  com- 
munication with  Pope,"  is  the  right  one,  but  I  wish  not  to  con- 
trol. That  I  now  leave  to  Gen.  Halleck,  aided  by  your  coun- 
sels. A.  LINCOLN. 

Maj.-Gen.  McCLELLAN. 

After  the  battle  of  the  30th,  and  the  opening  of  free  com- 
munication for  the  enemy  at  Thoroughfare  Gap,  through  which 
the  main  army  of  Lee  was  now  pouring  in  great  numbers,  it 
only  remained  for  Gen.  Pope  to  withdraw  his  army,  as  best  he 
could,  toward  Washington.  All  the  troops  were  withdrawn  to 
Centreville  in  good  order,  where  they  were  rested  during  the 
day,  on  the  31st,  receiving  supplies  and  ammunition.  Here  he 
was  joined  by  Sumner  and  Franklin,  with  an  aggregate  re- 
enforcement  of  19,000  men.  On  the  1st  of  September,  the 
enemy  was  found  moving  toward  Fairfax  Court  House,  endan- 
gering Pope's  right.  Due  precautions  had  been  taken,  so  that 
when  the  right  was  attacked  at  sunset,  the  enemy  was  met  by 
McDowell,  Reno,  Hooker,  and  Kearney.  A  sharp  conflict  fol- 
lowed, at  Chantilly,  in  the  midst  of  a  thunder-storm,  termina- 
ting soon  after  dark.  The  Rebels  were  handsomely  repulsed. 
Maj.-Gen.  Kearney  and  Brig. -Gen.  Stevens  were  among  our 
killed. 

On  the  2d,  the  forces  under  Gen.  Pope  were  ordered  to  be 
withdrawn  within  the  intrenchments  around  Washington, 
which  movement  was  executed  in  good  order.  Directly  after, 
Gen.  Pope  was  relieved,  and  appointed  to  the  command  of  the 
Department  of  the  Northwest. 

Gen.  McClellan,  on  the  1st  of  September,  was  orally  directed 
by  Gen.  Halleck  to  take  command  of  the  defenses  of  Wash- 
ington. He  immediately  entered  on  the  work,  his  command, 
however,  being  still  limited  to  the  Army  of  the  Potomac,  and 
no  new  jurisdiction  being  assigned  to  him  outside  of  the  forti- 
fications. It  was  without  any  formal  extension  of  this  authority 
that  he  went  out  to  meet  the  enemy  in  Maryland,  where  Lee 
next  assumed  a  threatening  position,  having  gone  out  by  Leea 
burg  and  crossed  the  Upper  Potomac. 


LIFE   OF  ABRAHAM   LINCOLN.  405 

Proceeding  cautiously,  until  the  purpose  of  the  enemy  was 
definitely  developed,  the  advance  of  Gen.  McClellan's  forces, 
on  the  14th  of  September,  came  up  with  and  defeated  the  rear- 
guard of  Lee  at  South  Mountain.  This  was  a  gallant  action, 
in  which  Gen.  Burnside  and  his  corps  took  a  conspicuous  part, 
and  in  which  Gen.  Keno  lost  his  life.  On  the  side  of  the 
Government,  about  30,000  men  were  engaged,  at  various 
points,  including  the  forces  under  Gen.  Meade.  The  Com- 
manding General  reports  his  losses  as  312  killed,  1,234 
wounded,  and  22  missing.  About  1,500  prisoners  were  taken 
from  the  enemy,  whose  losses  in  killed  and  wounded  were 
estimated  to  have  largely  exceeded  those  of  the  Government 
forces. 

Meanwhile,  Gen.  Franklin  had  been  executing  a  movement 
on  the  left,  by  Crampton's  Gap,  where  he  had  a  sharp  engage- 
ment. He  was  directed  to  relieve  Harper's  Ferry,  where  Col. 
Miles,  with  a  force  of  nearly  14,000  men,  was  in  imminent 
danger.  Before  Franklin  came  to  his  aid,  though  within  sound 
of  his  guns,  Miles  (who  was  soon  after  killed)  had  surrendered 
his  position,  his  munitions  of  war,  and  his  entire  force  of 
infantry  and  artillery.  His  cavalry,  numbering  about  2,000, 
cut  its  way  out  on  the  night  of  the  14th,  under  the  command 
of  Col.  Davis,  capturing,  on  its  route  to  the  Government  lines, 
the  train  of  Longstreet  and  over  one  hundred  prisoners.  ^ 

McClellan's  forces  were  soon  through  the  mountain  passes, 
and  a  prompt  engagement  with  the  enemy  was  expected,  with 
a  view  to  prevent  his  return  across  the  Potomac,  without  a 
crushing  defeat.  The  circumstances  now  seemed  favorable  to 
this  result,  the  forces  of  McClellan  being  massed  in  the  imme- 
diate vicinity  of  the  Rebel  army,  which  was  now  contending 
merely  for  a  secure  retreat — in  itself  a  concession  of  decided 
inferiority. 

On  the  15th,  the  enemy  made  a  stand  on  the  hights  beyond 
Antietam  Creek,  in  the  vicinity  of  Sharpsburg.  McClellan, 
seeing  the  formidable  position  thus  occupied,  deemed  it  advisa- 
ble to  prepare  with  great  deliberation,  for  the  attack  he  had 
intended  to  make  at  once.  The  15th  and  most  of  the  16th  were 
accordingly  employed  in  this  preparation,  during  which  time 


406  LIFE   OF   ABRAHAM   LINCOLN. 

the  enemy  also  made  new  dispositions,  some  artillery  firing 
going  on  during  both  days.  Meanwhile,  Jackson's  forces 
returned  from  the  capture  of  Harper's  Ferry.  The  corps  of 
Sumner  and  Hooker  (the  latter  of  whom  had  taken  the  place 
of  Heintzelinan,  assigned  to  duty  within  the  fortifications  at 
Washington)  were  posted  on  the  right,  near  Keedyville,  on 
both  sides  of  the  Sharpsburg  turnpike.  Franklin's  corps  and 
Couch's  division  were  placed  in  front  of  Brownsville,  in  Pleas- 
ant Valley.  Burnside's  corps  occupied  a  position  on  the  left. 
Heavy  artillery  was  massed  in  the  center,  behind  which,  in  the 
low  ground,  Porter's  corps  was  held  in  reserve.  The  right, 
center  and  left^were  each,  respectively,  near  three  stone  bridges 
across  Antietam  Creek,  the  one  on  the  right  being  about  three 
and  a  half  miles  from  that  on  the  left. 

In  the  evening  of  the  16th,  Hooker's  corps  advanced  across 
the  stream,  by  the  upper  bridge  and  by  a  ford  near  it,  with 
orders  to  endeavor  to  turn  the  enemy's  left.  After  a  short 
engagement,  the  opposing  force  was  driven  back,  and  Hooker 
encamped  for  the  night  on  the  ground  thus  gained.  Sumner's 
corps  crossed  at  the  same  point,  and  was  followed  by  the  corps 
of  Gen.  Mansfield  (the  Twelfth,  consisting  of  the  divisions  of 
Gens.  Williams  and  Green.) 

At  an  early  hour  on  the  morning  of  the  17th,  Hooker  made 
an  attack  on  the  enemy's  left — his  whole  corps  being  soon 
engaged,  as  well  as  the  remaining  troops  that  had  crossed  over, 
on  the  right.  Franklin's  corps  and  other  forces  were  also 
brought  into  action.  The  contest  was  a  severe  one,  the  enemy 
having  evidently  moved  a  heavy  force  to  the  support  of  his 
left — his  right  not  having  been  engaged  by  Burnside,  until 
after  the  heaviest  of  this  fighting  was  over.  Gen.  Mansfield 
fell  mortally  wounded.  Gen.  Hooker  was  early  so  severely 
wounded  as  to  be  compelled  to  leave  the  field.  Gen.  Hartsuff, 
of  Hooker's  corps,  was  also  badly  wounded,  as  were  Gens.  Sedg- 
wick  and  Dana,  and  many  other  officers.  On  both  sides,  there 
was  heavy  slaughter.  The  enemy  was  finally  driven  backward 
eome  distance,  and  our  right  held  the  position  gained. 

Gen.  Burnside's  advance,  on  the  left,  was  not  commenced 
until  hours  after  Hooker  had  brought  on  the  action  on  the 


LIFE   OP   ABRAHAM    LINCOLN.  407 

right.  About  8  o'clock  in  the  morning,  he  was  ordered  by  the 
Commanding  General  to  carry  the  bridge  before  him,  and  to 
occupy  the  hights  beyond,  advancing  along  their  summit 
toward  Sharpsburg.  The  bridge  was  not  carried  until  1  o'clock, 
and  a  halt  was  again  made  until  3,  the  hights  being  finally 
carried  in  a  gallant  manner.  Burnside  earnestly  asked,  but 
failed  to  receive  reinforcements  from  the  heavy  reserve  under 
Porter,  which  remained  inactive  through  the  day.  The  enemy, 
as  night  approached,  heavily  reenforced  his  right,  compelling 
Burnside  to  fall  back  to  a  lower  range  of  hills  than  that  he  had 
gained. 

On  the  whole,  our  forces  had  gained  a  substantial  advantage, 
and  had  inflicted  the  heaviest  damage  on  the  enemy,  in  killed 
and  wounded. 

Instead  of  renewing  the  engagement,  next  morning,  as  a  less 
prudent  general  would  undoubtedly  have  done,  Gen.  McClellan 
spent  the  18th  "  in  collecting  the  dispersed,  giving  rest  to  the 
fatigued,  removing  the  wounded,  burying  the  dead,  and  the 
necessary  preparations  for  a  renewal  of  the  battle."  During 
the  night  of  the  18th.  Lee's  entire  army  retreated  across  the 
Potomac.  "  As  their  line  was  but  a  short  distance  from  the 
river,"  Gen.  McClelian  says  in  his  final  report,  <:the  evacuation 
presented  but  little  difficulty,  and  was  effected  before  daylight." 
His  dispatches  of  the  19th,  show  that  he  regarded  these  mat- 
ters somewhat  differently  at  the  time.  In  fact,  several  hours 
elapsed,  before  the  Commanding  General  appears  to  have  under- 
stood how  completely  the  enemy  had  eluded  his  grasp. 

In  his  official  dispatch  of  Sept.  29,  Gen.  McClellan  says,  in 
summing  up  his  estimate  of  the  Rebel  losses : 

As  nearly  as  can  be  determined  at  this  time,  the  number 
of  prisoners  taken  by  our  troops  in  the  two  battles  will,  at 
the  lowest  estimate,  amount  to  5,000.  The  full  returns  will  no 
doubt  show  a  larger  number.  Of  these  about  1,200  are 
wounded.  This  gives  the  Rebel  loss  in  killed,  wounded  and 
prisoners,  25,542.  It  will  be  observed  that  this  does  not 
include  their  stragglers,  the  number  of  whom  is  said  by  citizens 
here  to  be  large.  It  may  be  safely  concluded,  therefore,  that 
the  Rebel  army  lost  at  least  30,000  of  their  best  troops  during 
their  campaign  in  Maryland. 


408  LIFE   OP   ABRAHAM    LINCOLN. 

In  his  last  report,  Gen.  MeClellan  states  his  own  losses  during 
the  same  period  as  amounting,  in  the  aggregate,  to  15,520. 

It  was  not  until  the  20th,  that  Maryland  Hights  were  occu- 
pied by  the  corps  of  Gen.  Williams.  On  the  22d,  Gen.  Sumner 
was  advanced  to  Harper's  Ferry.  On  the  23d,  Gen.  MeClellan 
regarded  the  enemy  as  still  remaining  in  front  of  him,  with 
"  indications  of  an  advance  of  reinforcements."  and  accord- 
ingly proceeded  to  act  on  a  defensive  policy.  On  the  27th,  he 
believes  "  the  main  body  of  the  enemy  is  concentrated  not  far 
from  Martinsburg,"  and  extending  "  toward  our  right  and 
beyond  it."  All  efforts  to  induce  a  vigorous  pursuit  of  an 
enemy  lately  represented  as  completely  routed  and  panic- 
stricken,  proved  of  no  avail. 

On  the  1st  of  October,  the  President  visited  the  army,  (the 
headquarters  of  which  were  still  on  the  Maryland  side  of  the 
Potomac)  and  passed  over  the  battle-fields  of  South  Mountain 
and  Antietam.  in  company  with  Gen.  MeClellan.  It  is  not  too 
much  to  say  that  this  visit  was  made,  in  part,  from  the  extreme 
anxiety  felt  by  Mr.  Lincoln  on  account  of  the  protracted  delay 
in  moving  the  army,  and  from  a  desire  to  ascertain,  by  per- 
sonal observation,  how  far  this  inaction  was  necessary  or  rea- 
sonable. On  the  President's  return,  the  following  dispatch 
was  sent  by  Gen.  Halleck  to  Gen.  MeClellan : 

WASHINGTON,  D.  C.,  October  6,  1862. 

I  am  instructed  to  telegraph  you  as  follows :  The  President 
directs  that  you  cross  the  Potomac  and  give  battle  to  the 
enemy,  or  drive  him  south.  Your  army  must  move  now,  while 
the  roads  are  good.  If  you  cross  the  river  between  the  enemy 
and  Washington,  and  cover  the  latter  by  your  operation,  you 
can  be  reenforced  with  thirty  thousand  men.  If  you  move  up 
the  valley  of  the  Shenandoah,  not  more  than  twelve  or  fifteen 
thousand  can  be  sent  you.  The  President  advises  the  interior 
line  between  Washington  and  the  enemy,  but  does  not  order 
it.  He  is  very  desirous  that  your  army  move  as  soon  as  possi- 
ble. You  will  immediately  report  what  line  you  adopt,  and 
when  you  intend  to  cross  the  river ;  also  to  what  point  the  reen- 
forcements  are  to  be  sent.  It  is  necessary  that  the  plan  of  your 
operations  be  positively  determined  on,  before  orders  are  given 
for  building  bridges  and  repairing  railroads.  I  am  directed  to 
add,  that  the  Secretary  of  War  and  the  General-in-chief  fully 
concur  with  the  President  in  these  instructions. 


LIFE   OF  ABRAHAM   LINCOLN.  40$ 

Cnder  various  dilatory  pleas,  this  peremptory  order  was 
effectually  disregarded.  After  fifteen  days,  during  which  various 
supplies  were  asked  and  furnished,  and  an  appearance  of  being 
on  the  eve  of  moving  was  kept  up,  McClellan  sent  Gen.  Halleck 
a  dispatch,  on  the  21st,  complaining  of  a  want  of  horses,  as  an 
excuse  for  further  delay,  and  begging  "  leave  to  ask  whether 
the  President  desires  "  him  uto  march  at  once,  or  to  await  the 
reception  of  the  new  horses,  every  possible  step  having  been 
taken  to  insure  their  prompt  arrival."  The  General-in-chief 
immediately  replied  :  ';  Your  telegram  of  12  M.  has  been  sub- 
mitted to  the  President.  He  directs  me  to  say  that  lie  has  no 
change  to  make  in  his  order  of  the  6th  inst.  .  .  .  The  President 
does  not  expect  impossibilities ;  but  he  is  very  anxious  that  all 
this  good  weather  should  not  be  wasted  in  inactivity."  A  full 
investigation  of  the  facts  is  believed  to  have  justified  the  fol- 
lowing conclusion,  stated  by  Gen.  Halleck  to  the  Secretary  of 
War,  on  the  28th  of  October :  "  In  my  opinion,  there  has  been 
no  such  want  of  supplies  in  the  army  under  Gen.  McClellan  as 
to  prevent  his  compliance  with  my  order  to  advance  against  the 
enemy.  Had  he  moved  his  army  to  the  south  side  of  the 
Potomac,  he  could  have  received  his  supplies  almost  as  readily 
as  by  remaining  inactive  on  the  north  side." 

During  the  last  days  of  October  and  the  earlier  days  of 
November,  the  Army  of  the  Potomac  was  put  in  motion. 
After  weeks  of  fine  weather  had  passed  unimproved,  it  is  not 
surprising  that  "  heavy  rains  delayed  the  movement  considera- 
bly in  the  beginning."  The  army  advanced  along  the  southern 
base  of  the  Blue  Ridge,  by  Lovettsville,  Snicker's  Gap,  and 
Rectortown,  until  the  several  corps  were  massed  in  the  vicinity 
of  "Warreuton.  The  main  army  of  Lee  at  the  same  time  fell 
back  on  Gordonsville. 

On  the  night  of  the  7th,  a  dispatch  from  President  Lincoln 
reached  Gen.  McClellan,  at  his  headquarters  near  Rectortown, 
relieving  him  from  the  command  of  the  Army  of  the  Potomac. 
Maj.-Gen.  Ambrose  E.  Burnside  was  designated  as  his  succes- 
sor. This  transfer  of  the  command  was  promptly  carried  into 
effect,  and  Gen.  McClellan.  on  the  10th,  took  his  final  leave 
of  the  army. 
35 


410  LIFE  OF  ABRAHAM  LINCOLN. 


CHAPTER  IX. 

A   New  Era  Inaugurated. — Emancipation. — Message    of    the   Presi- 
dent.— Last  Session  of  the  Thirty-seventh  Congress. 

THE  elections,  prior  to  the  autumn  of  1862,  had  shown  large 
majorities  for  the  Administration.  Brilliant  successes  had  been 
won  by  its  armies  in  the  West,  until,  in  June,  the  tide  of  vic- 
tory paused  before  Vicksburg.  In  the  East,  military  ineffi- 
ciency had  culminated  on  the  Peninsula  and  before  Washington. 
Lee  had  invaded  Maryland,  and  leisurely  retired,  unpursued. 
Political  defeat  followed  military  disaster.  Ohio  and  Pennsyl- 
vania gave  small  majorities  against  the  Administration  in  Octo- 
ber. New  York,  in  the  next  month,  followed  the  example.  The 
lower  House  of  the  next  Congress  was  already  claimed  as 
secured  by  the  Opposition.  Popular  discontent  and  despondency 
were  every -where  manifest.  Opposition  politicians  held  the 
President  responsible  before  the  people  for  the  non -action  of 
their  favorite  General,  whom  they  did  not  cease  to  lament  when 
removed.  Peace  Democrats  rallied  behind  banners  inscribed. 
"  For  a  more  vigorous  prosecution  of  the  war ;  "  yet  their 
repre  entative  man  was  the  one  who,  evading  orders  of  the 
Administration,  and  thwarting  the  President's  wishes,  had 
wasted  lavish  preparations  and  abundant  military  forces,  during 
a  whole  year,  in  organizing  failure. 

Long  before  this  disheartening  epoch,  however,  President 
Lincoln,  as  seen  in  previous  pages,  had  earnestly  directed  his 
thoughts  to  the  proper  mode  of  dealing  with  slavery,  in  its 
necessary  relations  to  the  war.  His  final  speech  to  the  Border 
State  men  on  compensated  emancipation,  as  we  have  seen, 
plainly  indicated  that,  as  early  as  July,  his  mind  was  mnde  up 
to  wrest  this  element  of  military  power  from  the  support  of  the 
Rebellion. 

In  the  month  of  May,  1862,  Gen.  Hunter,  then  commanding 
the  Department  of  the  South,  issued  an  unauthorized  order,  in 


LIFE  OF  ABRAHAM  LINCOLN.  411 

which  he  attempted,  by  logical  deduction  from  the  premise  of 
Secession,  to  establish  the  conclusion  that,  in  his  military 
department,  all  slaves  had  become  manumitted.  As  a  result  of 
this  logical  exercise,  he  declared  such  persons  to  be  "  forever 
free."  This  order,  like  the  rhapsody  on  Slavery  and  Roman- 
ism, issued  by  Gen.  Phelps,  in  his  proclamation  at  Ship  Island, 
might  have  been  suffered  to  pass  without  public  notice  by  the 
Executive,  had  it  not  emanated  from  a  commanding  general  in 
whose  department  were  two  of  the  States  in  which  slaves  were 
the  most  numerous,  and  had  it  not  the  appearance  of  an 
authentic  announcement  of  a  new  policy,  which  Gen.  Hunter 
had  lately  been  sent  out  to  put  in  operation.  The  President 
felt  constrained  to  set  aside  this  order,  which  he  did  in  the  fol- 
lowing well-considered  proclamation: 

WHEREAS,  There  appears  in  the  public  prints  what  purports 
to  be  a  proclamation  of  Major  General  Hunter,  in  the  words 
and  figures  following,  to  wit : 

HEADQUARTERS  DEPARTMENT  OF  THE  SOUTH,     ") 
HILTON  <HEAD,  S.  C.,  May  9,  1862.  j 

General  Orders  No.  11.] 

The  three  States  of  Georgia,  Florida,  and  South  Carolina, 
comprising  the  Military  Department  of  the  South,  having 
deliberately  declared  themselves  no  longer  under  the  protection 
of  the  United  States  of  America,  and  having  taken  up  arms 
against  the  said  United  States,  it  becomes  a  military  necessity 
to  declare  them  under  martial  law.  This  was  accordingly  done 
on  the  twenty-fifth  day  of  April,  1862.  Slavery  and  martial  law 
in  a  free  country  are  altogether  incompatible.  The  persons  in 
these  three  States,  Georgia,  Florida,  and  South  Carolina,  here- 
tofore held  as  slaves,  are  therefore  declared  forever  free. 

DAVID  HUNTER, 
Major  General  Commanding. 

Official:  ED.  W.  SMITH,  Acting  Assistant  Adjutant  General. 

AND  WHEREAS,  The  same  is  producing  some  excitement 
and  misunderstanding, 

Therefore,  I,  Abraham  Lincoln,  President  of  the  United 
States,  proclaim  and  declare  that  the  Government  of  the  United 
States  had  no  knowledge  or  belief  of  an  intention,  on  the  part 
of  Gen.  Hunter,  to  issue  such  a  proclamation,  nor  has  it  yet  any 
authentic  information  that  the  document  is  genuine;  and, 
further,  that  neither  Gen.  Hunter  ncr  any  other  commander,  or 


412  LIFE   OF   ABHAIIAM    LINCOLN. 

person,  lias  been  authorized  by  the  Government  of  the  United 
States  to  make  proclamation  declaring  the  slaves  of  any  State 
free,  and  that  the  supposed  proclamation  now  in  question, 
whether  genuine  or  false,  is  altogether  void,  so  far  as  respects 
such  declaration. 

I  further  make  known  that,  whether  it  be  competent  for  me, 
as  Commander-in-chief  of  the  Army  and  Navy,  to  declare  the 
slaves  of  any  State  or  States  free,  and  whether,  at  any  time,  or 
in  any  case,  it  shall  have  become  a  necessity  indispensable  to 
the  maintenance  of  the  Government  to  exercise  such  supposed 
power,  are  questions  which,  under  my  responsibility,  I  reserve 
to  myself,  aud  which  I  can  not  feel  justified  in  leaving  to  the 
decision  of  commanders  in  the  field.  These  are  totally  differ- 
ent questions  from  those  of  police  regulations  in  armies  and 
camps. 

On  the  sixth  day  of  March  last,  by  a  special  message,  I 
recommended  to  Congress  the  adoption  of  a  joint  resolution, 
to  be  substantially  as  follows : 

"  Resolved,  That  the  United  States  ought  to  cooperate  with 
any  State  which  may  adopt  a  gradual  abolishment  of  slavery, 
giving  to  such  State  in  its  discretion  to  compensate  for  the  in- 
conveniences, public  and  private,  produced  by  such  change  of 
systsm." 

The  resolution,  in  the  language  above  quoted,  was  adopted 
by  large  majorities  in  both  branches  of  Congress,  and  now 
stands  an  authentic,  definite,  and  solemn  proposal  of  the  nation 
to  the  States  and  people  most  immediately  interested  in  the  sub- 
jecit  matter.  To  the  people  of  these  States  I  now  earnestly 
appoal.  I  do  not  argue  ;  I  beseech  you  to  make  the  arguments 
for  yourselves.  You  can  not,  if  you  would,  be  blind  to  the 
signs  of  the  times.  I  beg  of  you  a  calm  and  enlarged  consid- 
eration of  them,  ranging,  if  it  may  be,  far  above  personal  and 
partisan  politics.  This  proposal  makes  common  cause  for  a 
common  object,  casting  no  reproaches  upon  any.  It  acts  not 
the  Pharisee.  The  change  it  contemplates  would  come  gently 
as  the  dews  of  Heaven,  not  rending  or  wrecking  any  thing. 
Will  you  not  embrace  it  ?  So  much  good  has  not  been  done 
by  one  effort  in  all  past  time,  as,  in  the  Providence  of  God,  it 
is  now  your  high  privilege  to  do.  May  the  vast  future  not 
have  to  lament  that  you  have  neglected  it. 

In  witness  whereof,  I  have  hereunto  set  my  hand  and  caused 
the  seal  of  the  United  States  to  be  affixed. 

Done  at  the  city  of  Washington,  this  nineteenth  day  of  May, 
in  the  year  of  our  Lord  one  thousand  eight  hundred  and  sixty- 
two,  and  of  the  Independence  of  the  United  States  the  eighty- 
sixth.  ABRAHAM  LINCOLN. 


LIFE  OP  ABRAHAM  LINCOLN.  413 

The  policy  on  which  the  Government  had  been  acting,  in  the 
Slave  districts,  was  substantially  that  repeated  in  an  Executive 
order,  under  date  of  July  22,  1862 : 

That  military  and  naval  commanders  shall  employ  as  labor- 
ers, within  and  from  said  States,  so  many  persons  of  African 
descent  as  can  be  advantageously  used  for  military  or  naval 
purposes,  giving  them  reasonable  wages  for  their  labor. 

That,  as  to  both  property,  and  persons  of  African  descent,  ac- 
counts shall  be  kept  sufficiently  accurate  and  in  detail  to  show 
quantities  and  amounts,  and  from  whom  both  property  and  such 
persons  shall  have  come,  as  a  basis  upon  which  compensation 
can  be  made  in  proper  cases  ;  and  the  several  departments  of 
this  Government  shall  attend  to  and  perform  their  appropriate 
parts  toward  the  execution  of  these  orders. 

In  August,  Mr.  Greeley,  of  New  York,  published  in  his 
journal,  the  Tribune,  an  editorial  article  on  this  subject,  in  the 
form  of  a  letter  addressed  to  the  President,  severely  criticising 
his  action,  and  complaining,  in  no  very  gentle  terms,  of  various 
matters,  wherein  the  Administration  had,  in  his  opinion,  fallen 
short  of  the  just  expectations  of  "  twenty  millions"  of  loyal 
people.  The  whole  letter  proceeded  from  the  mistaken  as- 
sumption that  the  President  had  not,  all  along,  reflected  as 
earnestly,  and  felt  as  deeply,  in  regard  to  the  question  of  eman- 
cipation, as  any  man  living.  It  was  written  in  ignorance  of 
the  fact  that  the  President  had  already  fully  matured  and 
resolved  upon  a  definite  policy  in  regard  to  Slavery,  and  was 
only  awaiting  the  fitting  moment  for  its  announcement. 

Mr.  Lincoln  thought  proper  to  address  Mr.  Greeley  the  fol- 
lowing letter,  in  reply  to  his  complaints : 

EXECUTIVE  MANSION,  WASHINGTON, 

August  22,  1862. 
Hon.  HORACE  GREELEY — Dear  Sir :  I  have  just  read  yours 
of  the  19th,  addressed  to  myself  through  the  New  York  Tri- 
bune. If  there  be  in  it  any  statements  or  assumptions  of  fact 
which  I  may  know  to  be  erroneous,  I  do  not  now  and  here  con- 
trovert them.  If  there  be  in  it  any  inferences  which  I  may 
believe  to  be  falsely  drawn,  I  do  not  now  and  here  argue  against 
them.  If  there  be  perceptible  in  it  an  impatient  and  dictatorial 


414  LIFE   OP   ABRAHAM   LINCOLN. 

tone,  I  waive  it  in  deference  to  an  old  friend,  whose  heart  I 
have  always  supposed  to  be  right. 

As  to  the  policy  I  "  seem  to  be  pursuing,"  as  you  say,  I  have 
not  meant  to  leave  any  one  in  doubt. 

I  would  save  the  Union.  I  would  save  it  the  shortest  way 
under  the  Constitution.  The  sooner  the  National  authority- 
can  be  restored,  the  nearer  the  Union  will  be  "  the  Union  as  it 
was."  If  there  be  those  who  would  not  save  the  Union  unless 
they  could  at  the  same  time  save  Slavery,  I  do  not  agree  with 
them.  If  there  be  those  who  would  not  save  the  Union  unless 
they  could  at  the  same  time  destroy  Slavery,  I  do  not  agree 
with  them.  My  paramount  object  in  this  struggle  is  to  save 
the  Union,  and  is  not  either  to  save  or  destroy  Slavery.  If  I 
could  save  the  Union  without  freeing  any  slave,  I  would  do  it ; 
and  if  I  could  save  it  by  freeing  all  the  slaves,  I  would  do  it ; 
and  if  I  could  do  it  by  freeing  some  and  leaving  others  alone, 
I  would  also  do  that.  What  I  do  about  Slavery  and  the  colored 
race,  I  do  because  I  believe  it  helps  to  save  this  Union ;  and 
what  I  forbear,  I  forbear  because  I  do  not  believe  it  would  help 
to  save  the  Union.  I  shall  do  less  whenever  I  shall  believe 
what  I  am  doing  hurts  the  cause,  and  I  shall  do  more  whenever 
I  shall  believe  doing  more  will  help  the  cause.  I  shall  try  to 
correct  errors  when  shown  to  be  errors ;  and  I  shall  adopt  new 
views  so  fast  as  they  shall  appear  to  be  true  views.  I  have  here 
stated  my  purpose  according  to  my  view  of  official  duty,  and  I 
intend  no  modification  of  my  oft-expressed  personal  wish  that 
all  men,  every-where,  could  be  free. 

Yours,  A.  LINCOLN. 

Although  the  proclamation  of  Emancipation  had  been  pre- 
pared sometime  before  this  letter  was  written — in  fact  as  early 
as  July — it  was  not  deemed  a  fitting  occasion  to  announce  this 
great  measure,  when  our  army  was  recoiling  from  before  Rich- 
mond, or  when  our  Capital  itself  was  threatened  and  Maryland 
invaded.  The  battle  of  Antietam,  followed  by  the  withdrawal 
of  Lee's  army  into  Virginia,  occurred  on  the  17th  day  of  Sep- 
tember. The  President,  five  days  later,  issued  the  following 

PROCLAMATION   OP   EMANCIPATION. 

I,  Abraham  Lincoln,  President  of  the  United  States,  and 
Commander-in-chief  of  the  Army  and  Navy  thereof,  do  hereby 
proclaim  and  declare  that  hereafter,  as  heretofore,  the  war  will 
be  prosecuted  for  the  object  of  practically  restoring  the  consti- 
tutional relation  between  the  United  States  and  the  people 


LIFE   OJ?   ABRAHAM   LINCOLN.  415 

thereof  in  those  States  in  which  that  relation  is,  or  may  be, 
suspended  or  disturbed  ;  that  it  is  my  purpose  upon  the  next 
meeting  of  Congress  to  again  recommend  the  adoption  of  a 
practical  measure  tendering  pecuniary  aid  to  the  free  accept- 
ance or  rejection  of  all  the  Slave  States,  so-called,  the  people 
whereof  may  not  then  be  in  rebellion  against  the  United 
States,  and  which  States  may  then  have  voluntarily  adopted,  or 
thereafter  may  voluntarily  adopt,  the  immediate  or  gradual 
abolishment  of  Slavery  within  their  respective  limits,  and  that 
the  effort  to  colonize  persons  of  African  descent,  with  their  con- 
sent, upon  the  continent  or  elsewhere,  with  the  previously 
obtained  consent  of  the  government  existing  there,  will 
be  continued ;  that  on  the  first  day  of  January,  in  the 
year  of  our  Lord  one  thousand  eight  hundred  and  sixty- 
three,  all  persons  held  as  slaves  within  any  State,  or 
any  designated  part  of  a  State,  the  people  whereof  shall 
then  be  in  rebellion  against  the  United  States,  SHALL  BE 
THEN,  THENCEFORWARD  AND  FOREVER,  FREE  ;  and  the  mili- 
tary and  naval  authority  thereof  will  recognize  and  maintain 
the  freedom  of  such  persons,  and  will  do  no  act  or  acts  to 
repress  such  persons,  or  any  of  them,  in  any  efforts  they  may 
make  for  actual  freedom ;  that  the  Executive  will,  on  the  first 
day  of  January  aforesaid,  by  proclamation,  designate  the 
States  and  parts  of  States,  if  any,  in  which  the  people  thereof 
respectively  shall  then  be  in  rebellion  against  the  United  States  ; 
and  the  fact  that  any  State,  or  the  people  thereof,  shall  on  that 
day  be  in  good  faith  represented  in  the  Congress  of  the  United 
States  by  members  chosen  thereto,  at  elections  wherein  a 
majority  of  the  qualified  voters  of  such  State  shall  have  partici- 
pated, shall,  in  the  absence  of  strong  countervailing  testimony, 
be  deemed  conclusive  evidence  that  such  State  and  the  people 
thereof  have  not  been  in  rebellion  against  the  United  States. 

That  attention  is  hereby  called  to  an  act  of  Congress  entitled, 
"An  act  to  make  an  additional  article  of  war,"  approved  March 
13,  1862,  and  ^hich  act  is  in  the  words  and  figures  following : 

"Be  it  enacted  by  the  Senate  and  House  of  Representatives  of 
the  United  Stales  of  America,  in  Congress  assembled,  That  here- 
after the  following  shall  be  promulgated  as  an  additional  article 
of  war  for  the  government  of  the  Army  of  the  United  States, 
and  shall  be  observed  and  obeyed  as  such  : 

"ARTICLE  — .  All  officers  or  persons  of  the  military  or  naval 
service  of  the  United  States  are  prohibited  from  employing  any 
of  the  forces  under  their  respective  commands  for  the  purpose 
of  returning  fugitives  from  service  or  labor  who  may  have 
escaped  from  any  persons  to  whom  such  service  or  labor  is 
claimed  to  be  due,  and  any  officer  who  shall  be  found  guilty  by 


41C 


LIFE  OF  ABRAHAM  LINCOLN*. 


a  court-martial  of  violating  this  article,  shall  be  dismissed  from 
the  service. 

"SEC.  2.  And  be  it  further  enacted,  that  this  act  shall  take 
effect  from  and  after  its  passage." 

Also  to  the  ninth  and  tenth  sections  of  an  act  entitled,  '(An 
act  to  suppress  insurrection,  to  punish  treason  and  rebellion,  to 
seize  and  confiscate  property  of  Rebels,  and  for  other  purposes," 
approved  July  17,  1862.  and  "which  sections  are  in  the  words 
and  figures  following : 

"SEC.  9,  And  be  it  further  enacted,  that  all  slaves  of  per- 
sons who  shall  hereafter  be  engaged  in  rebellion  against  the 
Government  of  the  United  States,  or  who  shall  in  any  way  give 
aid  or  comfort  thereto,  escaping  from  such  persons  and  taking 
refuge  within  the  lines  of  the  army;  and  all  slaves  captured 
from  such  persons  or  deserted  by  them,  and  coming  under  the 
control  of  the  Government  of  the  United  States,  and  all  slaves 
of  such  persons  found  on  (or  being  within)  any  place  occupied 
by  Rebel  forces  and  afterward  occupied  by  the  forces  of  the 
United  States,  shall  be  deemed  captives  of -war,  and  shall  be 
forever  free  of  their  servitude  and  not  again  held  as  slaves. 

"  SEC.  10.  And  be  it  further  enacted,  that  no  slave  escaping 
into  any  State,  Territory  or  the  District  of  Columbia,  from  any 
of  the  States,  shall  be  delivered  up,  or  in  any  way  impeded  or 
hindered  of  his  liberty,  except  for  crime,  or  some  offense  against 
the  laws,  unless  the  person  claiming  said  fugitive  shall  first 
make  oath  that  the  person  to  whom  the  labor  or  service  of  such 
fugitive  is  alleged  to  be  due,  is  his  lawful  owner,  and  has  not 
been  in  arms  against  the  United  States  in  the  present  rebellion, 
nor  in  any  way  given  aid  or  comfort  thereto ;  and  no  person  en- 
gaged in  the  military  or  naval  service  of  the  United  States 
shall,  xinder  any  pretense  whatever,  assume  to  decide  on  the 
validity  of  the  claim  of  any  person  to  the  service  or  labor  of 
any  other  person,  or  surrender  up  any  such  person  to  the  claim- 
ant, on  pain  of  being  dismissed  from  the  service." 

And  I  do  hereby  enjoin  upon,  and  order  all  persons  engaged 
in  the  military  and  naval  service  of  the  United  States  to  ob- 
serve, obey  and  enforce  within  their  respective  spheres  of  serv- 
ice the  act  and  sections  above  recited. 

•  And  the  Executive  will,  in  due  time,  recommend  that  all  citi- 
zens of  the  United  States  who  shall  have  remained  loyal  thereto 
throughout  the  rebellion,  shall  (upon  the  restoration  of  the 
constitutional  relation  between  the  United  States  and  their 
respective  States  and  people,  if  the  relation  shall  have  been  sus- 
pended or  disturbed)  be  compensated  for_  all  losses  by  acts  of 
the  United  States,  including  the  loss  of  slaves. 


LIFE   OF   ABRAHAM   LINCOLN.  417 

Tn  witness  whereof,  I  have  hereunto  set  my  hand  and  caused 
the  seal  of  the  United  States  to  be  affixed. 

Done  at  the  city  of  Washington,  this  twenty-second  day  of 
September,  in  the  year  of  our  Lord  one  thousand  eight  hundred 
and  sixty-two,  and  of  the  Independence  of  the  United  States 
the  eighty-seventh. 

By  the  President :  ABRAHAM  LINCOLN. 

WJM.  H.  SEWARD,  Secretary  of  State. 

This  proclamation,  inaugurating  a  new  era  in  the  progress 
of  the  war,  and  constituting  a  landmark  in  the  nation's  history 
for  all  time,  was  received  with  great  satisfaction  throughout 
the  loyal  States,  reassuring  the  faith  and  reviving  the  confi- 
dence of  those  who  now  saw  the  only  hope  of  a  complete  over- 
throw of  the  slaveholders'  conspiracy,  in  the  utter  eradication 
of  its  mischievous  and  immoral  cause.  This  decree  flashed  a 
new  light  across  the  Atlantic,  and  gave  cheer  to  the  friends  of 
American  republicanism  abroad,  affording  them  a  firm  foothold 
among  the  nations  of  the  Old  World,  so  many  of  whose  ruling 
men  had  manifested  a  positive  affinity  for  Davis  and  the  inhu- 
man revolt  against  freedom  and  civilization  which  he  had  inau- 
gurated. From  this  time  onward,  that  portion  of  the  European 
population  in  sympathy  with  the  constitutional  government  of 
this  nation  began  steadily  to  advance,  until  its  power  has  come 
to  be  strongly  felt,  and  its  influence  controlling.  In  Europe, 
the  line  was  now  distinctly  drawn  between  the  grand  principles 
of  universal  freedom  and  the  usurpations  of  slaveholding  bar- 
barism ;  between  legitimate  authority  on  the  side  of  liberty, 
and  organized  revolt  to  perpetuate  oppression. 

On  the  1st  day  of  January,  the  expected  proclamation,  com- 
pleting this  great  work  and  giving  it  actual  vitality,  was  pro- 
mulgated in  the  following  terms  :  •*••  f. 

WHEREAS.  On  the  twenty-second  day  of  September,  in  the 
year  of  our  Lord  one  thousand  eight  hundred  and  sixty-two, 
a  proclamation  was  issued  by  the  President  of  the  United 
States,  containing,  among  other  things,  the  following,  to-wit. 

That  on  the  first  day  of  January,  in  the  year  of  our  Lord 
one  thousand  eight  hundred  and  sixty-tb*'ee,  all  persons  held 
as  slaves  within  any  State,  or  any  designated  part  of  a  State, 
the  people  whereof  shall  then  be  in  rebellion  against  the 


418  LIFE   OF   ABRAHAM    LINCOLN. 

United  States,  shall  be  thenceforward  and  forever  free,  and  the 
Executive  Government  of  the  United  States,  including  the 
military  and  naval  authority  thereof,  will  recognize  and  main- 
tain the  freedom  of  such  persons,  and  will  do  no  act  or  acts  to 
repress  such  persons,  or  any  of  them,  in  any  efforts  they  may 
make  for  their  actual  freedom  : 

That  the  Executive  will,  on  the  first  day  of  January  afore- 
said, by  proclamation,  designate  the  States  and  parts  of  States, 
if  any,  in  which  the  people  thereof  respectively  shall  then  be 
in  rebellion  against  the  United  States,  and  the  fact  that  any 
State,  or  the  people  thereof,  shall  on  that  day  be  in  good  faith 
represented  in  the  Congress  of  the  United  States  by  members 
chosen  thereto  at  elections  wherein  a  majority  of  the  qualified 
voters  of  such  State  shall  have  participated,  shall,  in  the  absence 
of  strong  countervailing  testimony,  be  deemed  conclusive  evi- 
dence that  such  State  and  the  people  thereof  are  not  then  in 
rebellion  against  the  United  States  : 

Now,  therefore,  I,  Abraham  Lincoln,  President  of  the  United 
States,  by  virtue  of  the  power  in  me  vested  as  Commander-in- 
chief  of  the  Army  and  Navy  of  the  United  States,  in  time  of 
actual  armed  rebellion  against  the  authority  and  Government  of 
the  United  States,  and  as  a  fit  and  necessary  war  measure  for 
repressing  said  rebellion,  do,  on  this  first  day  of  January,  in  the 
year  of  our  Lord  one  thousand  eight  hundred  and  sixty-three, 
and  in  accordance  with  my  purpose  so  to  do,  publicly  pro- 
claimed for  the  full  period  of  one  hundred  days  from  the  day 
of  the  first  above-mentioned  order,  and  designate,  as  the  States 
and  parts  of  States  whereifc  the  people  thereof  respectively  are 
this  day  in  rebellion  against  the  United  States,  the  following, 
to-wit.  :  Arkansas,  Texas,  Louisiana,  except  the  parishes  of  St. 
Bernard,  Plaquemines,  Jefferson,  St.  John,  St.  Charles,  St.  James, 
Ascension,  Assumption,  Terre  Bonne,  Lafourche,  St.  Mary,  St. 
Martin,  and  Orleans,  including  the  city  of  New  Orleans,  Missis- 
sippi, Alabama,  Florida,  Georgia,  South  Carolina,  North 
Carolina',  and  Virginia,  except  the  forty-eight  counties  desig- 
nated as  West  Virginia,  and  also  the  counties  of  Berkeley, 
Accomac,  Northampton,  Elizabeth  City,  York,  Princess  Ann, 
and  Norfolk,  including  the  cities  of  Norfolk  and  Portsmouth, 
and  which  excepted  parts  are,  for  the  present,  left  precisely  as 
if  this  proclamation  were  not  issued. 

And  by  virtue  of  the  power  and  for  the  purpose  aforesaid,  I 
do  order  and  declare  that  all  persons  held  as  slaves  within  said 
designated  States  and  parts  of  States  are,  and  henceforward 
shall  be  free  ;  and  that  the  Executive  Government  of  the  United 
States,  including  the  military  and  naval  authorities  thereof,  will 
recognize  and  maintain  the  freedom  of  said  persons. 


LIFE   OP   ABRAHAM    LINCOLN.  419 

And  I  hereby  enjoin  upon  the  people  so  declared  to  be  free, 
to  abstain  from  all  violence,  unless  in  necessary  self-defense, 
and  I  recommend  to  them,  that  in  all  cases,  when  allowed,  they 
labor  faithfully  for  reasonable  wages. 

And  I  further  declare  and  make  known  that  such  persons  of 
suitable  condition  will  be  received  into  the  armed  service  of 
the  United  States  to  garrison  forts,  positions,  stations,  and  other 
places,  and  to  man  vessels  of  all  sorts  in  said  service. 

And  upon  this,  sincerely  believed  to  be  an  act  of  justice, 
warranted  by  the  Constitution,  upon  military  necessity,  I 
invoke  the  considerate  judgment  of  mankind  and  the  graciou3 
favor  of  Almighty  God. 

In  witness  whereof,  I  have  hereunto  set  my  hand  and  caused 
the  seal  of  the  United  States  to  be  affixed. 

Done  at  the  city  of  Washington,  this  first  day  of 

r-        -,  January,  in  the  year  of  our  Lord  one  thousand  eight 

L  '  S'J  hundred  and  sixty-three,  and  of  the  Independence  of 

the  United  States  of  America  the  eighty-seventh. 
By  the  President :  ABRAHAM  LINCOLN. 

WILLIAM  H.  SEWARD,  Secretary  of  State. 

The  power  exercised  by  President  Lincoln  in  suspending  the 
writ  of  habeas  corpus,  in  certain  cases,  gave  some  uneasiness 
to  a  class  of  men  whose  efforts  to  obstruct  the  Government  in 
putting  down  the  rebellion  had  been  pursued  under  the  assump- 
tion that  they  would  escape  punishment  on  a  formal  trial,  for 
the  treason  of  which  they  were  morally  guilty.  The  people, 
however,  fully  sustained  this  course  of  the  Executive,  in  a  time 
of  great  public  peril,  and  his  prompt  action  therein  tended 
materially  to  strengthen  the  Government.  His  proclamation 
on  this  subject,  issued  on  the  24th  day  of  September,  1862, 
contained  the  following  orders : 

That  during  the  existing  insurrection,  and  as  a  necessary 
measure  for  suppressing  the  same,  all  Rebels  and  insurgents, 
their  aiders  and  abettors,  within  the  United  States,  and  all  per- 
sons discouraging  volunteer  enlistments,  resisting  militia  drafts, 
or  guilty  of  any  disloyal  practice  affording  aid  and  comfort  to 
the  Eebels  against  the  authority  of  the  United  States,  shall  be 
subject  to  martial  law,  and  liable  to  trial  and  punishment  by 
courts-martial  or  military  commissions. 

That  the  writ  of  habeas  corpus  is  suspended  in  respect  to  all 
persons  arrested,  or  who  are  now,  or  hereafter  during  the  rebel- 
lion shall  be,  imprisoned  in  any  fort,  camp,  arsenal,  military 


420  LIFE   OF  ABRAHAM   LINCOLN. 

prison,  or  other  place  of  confinement,  by  any  military  authority, 
or  by  the  sentence  of  any  court-martial  or  military  commission. 

In  noticing  these  measures,  which  have  occupied  so  large  a 
place  in  the  public  mind,  it  is  fitting  also  to  mention  the  order 
issued  by  President  Lincoln,  in  response  to  an  appeal  made  to 
him  by  many  Christian  men,  in  regard  to  the  better  observance 
of  Sunday  as  a  day  of  rest  and  religious  devotion.  "  In  revo- 
lutionary times,"  this  reverence  for  the  day  can  seldom  be 
maintained  in  that  strictness  which  is  required  even  by  human 
laws  ;  but  that  a  great  improvement  in  this  respect  was  practi- 
cable, could  not  be  denied.  The  President's  order  on  this 
subject,  issued  on  the  16th  of  November,  1862,  is  one  which 
deserves  a  perpetual  remembrance.  It  is  here  subjoined  : 

The  President,  Commander-in-chief  of  the  Army  and  Navy, 
desires  and  enjoins  the  orderly  observance  of  the  Sabbath,  by 
the  officers  and  men  in  the  military  and  naval  service.  The 
importance,  for  man  and  beast,  of  the  prescribed  weekly  rest, 
the  sacred  rights  of  Christian  soldiers  and  sailors,  a  becoming 
deference  to  the  best- sentiment  of  a  Christian  people,  and  a  due 
regard  for  the  Divine  will,  demand  that  Sunday  labor  in  the 
army  and  navy  be  reduced  to  the  measure  of  strict  necessity. 

The  discipline  and  character  of  the  National  forces  should 
not  suffer,  nor  the  cause  they  defend  be  imperiled,  by  the  pro- 
fanation of  the  day  or  name  of  the  Most  High.  "At  this  time 
of  public  distress,"  adopting  the  words  of  Washington  in  1776, 
"  men  may  find  enough  to  do  in  the  service  of  God  and  their 
country,  without  abandoning  themselves  to  vice  and  immoral- 
ity." The  first  general  order  issued  by  the  Father  of  his 
Country,  after  the  Declaration  of  Independence,  indicates  the 
spirit  in  which  our  institutions  were  founded  and  should  ever 
be  defended :  "The  General  hopes  and  trusts  that  every  officer 
and  man  will  endeavor  to  live  and  act  as  becomes  a  Christian 
soldier  defending  the  dearest  rights  and  liberties  of  his  coun- 
try." ABRAHAM  LINCOLN. 

The  Thirty-seventh  Congress  convened,  for  its  last  session, 
on  the  first  day  of  December,  1862.  The  annual  message  of 
the  President  was  transmitted  to  both  Houses  on  that  day.  In 
view  of  the  marked  events  of  the  preceding  season,  this  docu- 
ment was  looked  for  with  unusual  interest ;  nor  was  its  favor- 


LIFE   OP   ABRAHAM    LINCOLN.  421 

able  reception  disproportioned  to  the  public  expectation.     The 
material  portions  of  this  State  paper  are  as  follows: 

MR.  LINCOLN'S  ANNUAL  MESSAGE,  1862. 

FELLOW-CITIZENS  OF  THE  SENATE  AND  HOUSE  OF  REPRE- 
SENTATIVES :  Since  your  last  annual  assembling,  another  year 
of  health  and  bountiful  harvests  has  passed.  And,  while  it 
has  not  pleased  the  Almighty  to  bless  us  with  a  return  of 
peace,  we  can  but  press  on,  guided  by  the  best  light  He  gives 
us,  trusting  that,  in  His  own  good  time,  and  wise  way,  all  will 
yet  be  well 

If  the  condition  of  our  relations  with  other  nations  is  less 
gratifying  than  it  has  usually  been  at  former  periods,  it  is  cer- 
tainly more  satisfactory  than  a  nation  so  unhappily  distracted 
as  we  are,  might  reasonably  have  apprehended.  In  the  month 
of  June  last  there  were  some  grounds  to  expect  that  the  mari- 
time powers  which,  at  the  beginning  of  our  domestic  difficul- 
ties, so  unwisely  and  unnecessarily,  as  we  think,  recognized  the 
insurgents  as  a  belligerent,  would  soon  recede  from  that  posi- 
tion, which  has  proved  only  less  injurious  to  themselves  than 
to  our  own  country.  But  the  temporary  reverses  which  after- 
ward befell  the  National  arms,  and  which  were  exaggerated  by 
our  own  disloyal  citizens  abroad,  have  hitherto  delayed  that 
act  of  simple  justice. 

The  civil  war,  which  has  so  radically  changed,  for  the 
moment,  the  occupations  and  habits  of  the  American  people, 
has  necessarily  disturbed  the  social  condition,  and  affected  very 
deeply  the  prosperity  of  the  nations  with  which  we  have  car- 
ried on  a  commerce  that  has  been  steadily  increasing  through- 
out a  period  of  half  a  century.  It  has,  at  the  same  time, 
excited  political  ambitions  and  apprehensions  which  have  pro- 
duced a  profound  agitation  throughout  the  civilized  world.  In 
this  unusual  agitation  we  have  forborne  from  taking  part  in 
any  controversy  between  foreign  States,  and  between  parties  or 
factions  in  such  States.  We  have  attempted  no  propagandism, 
and  acknowledged  no  revolution.  But  we  have  left  to  every 
nation  the  exclusive  conduct  and  management  of  its  own  affairs. 
Our  struggle  has  been,  of  course,  contemplated  by  foreign 
nations  with  reference  less  to  its  own  merits,  than  to  its  sup- 
posed, and  often  exaggerated,  effects  and  consequences  result- 
ing to  those  nations  themselves.  Nevertheless,  complaint  on 
the  part  of  this  Government,  even  if  it  were  just,  would  cer- 
tainly be  unwise. 

The  treaty  with  Great  Britain  for  the  suppression  of  the 
slave-trade  har,  been  put  into  operation,  with  a  good  prospect 


422  LIFE   OF   ABRAHAM   LINCOLN. 

of  completa  success.  It  is  an  occasion  of  special  pleasure  to 
acknowledge  that  the  execution  of  it,  on  the  part  of  Her 
Majesty's  Government,  has  been  marked  with  a  jealous  respect 
for  the  authority  of  the  United  States,  and  the  rights  of  their 
moral  and  loyal  citizens 

Applications  have  been  made  to  me  by  many  free  Ameri- 
cans of  African  descent  to  favor  their  emigration,  with  a  view 
to  such  colonization,  as  was  contemplated  in  recent  acts  of  Con- 
gress. Other  parties,  at  home  and  abroad — some  from  inter- 
ested motives,  others  upon  patriotic  considerations,  and  still 
others  influenced  by  philanthropic  sentiments — have  suggested 
similar  measures;  while,  on  the  other  hand,  several  of  the 
Spanish- American  republics  have  protested  against  the  sending 
of  such  colonies  to  their  respective  territories.  Under  these 
circumstances,  I  have  declined  to  move  any  such  colony  to  any 
State,  without  first  obtaining  the  consent  of  its  Government, 
with  an  agreement  on  its  part  to  receive  and  protect  such  emi- 
grants in  all  the  rights  of  freemen ;  and  I  have,  at  the  same 
time,  offered  to  the  several  States  situated  within  the  tropics, 
or  having  colonies  there,  to  negotiate  with  them,  subject  to  the 
advice  and  consent  of  the  Senate,  to  favor  the  voluntary  emi- 
gration of  persons  of  that  class  to  their  respective  territories, 
upon  conditions  which  shall  be  equal,  just  and  humane.  Li- 
beria and  Hayti  are,  as  yet,  the  only  countries  to  which  colo- 
nists of  African  descent  from  here,  could  go  with  certainty  of 
being  received  and  adopted  as  citizens ;  and  I  regret  to  say 
such  persons,  contemplating  colonization,  do  not  seem  so  willing 
to  migrate  to  those  countries,  as  to  some  others,  nor  so  willing 
as  I  think  their  interest  demands.  I  believe,  however,  opinion 
among  them  in  this  respect,  is  improving ;  and  that,  ere  long, 
there  will  be  an  augmented  and  considerable  migration  to  both 
these  countries,  from  the  United  States 

I  have  favored  the  project  for  connecting  the  United  States 
with  Europe  by  an  Atlantic  telegraph,  and  a  similar  project  to 
extend  the  telegraph  from  San  Francisco,  to  connect  by  a 
Pacific  telegraph  with  the  line  which  is  being  extended  across 
the  Russian  Empire. 

The  Territories  of  the  United  States,  with  unimportant  excep- 
tions, have  remained  undisturbed  by  the  civil  war ;  and  they 
are  exhibiting  such  evidence  of  prosperity  as  justifies  an  expec- 
tation that  some  of  them  will  soon  be  in  a  condition  to  be 
organized  as  States,  and  be  constitutionally  admitted  into  the 
Federal  Union. 

The  immense  mineral  resources  of  some  of  those  Territories 
ought  to  be  developed  as  rapidly  as  possible.  Every  step  in 
that  direction  would  have  a  tendency  to  improve  the  revenue/ 


LIFE   OF   ABRAHAJI    LINCOLN.  423 

of  the  Government,  and  diminish  the  burdens  of  the  people. 
It  is  worthy  of  your  serious  consideration  whether  some  extra- 
ordinary measures  to  promote  that  end  can  not  be  adopted. 
The  means  which  suggest  itself  as  most  likely  to  be  effective, 
is  a  scientific  exploration  of  the  mineral  regions  in  those  Terri- 
tories, with  a  view  to  the  publication  of  its  results  at  home  and 
in  foreign  countries — results  which  can  not  fail  to  be  auspicious. 

The  condition  of  the  finances  will  claim  your  most  diligent 
consideration.  The  vast  expenditures  incident  to  the  military 
and  naval  operations  required  for  the  suppression  of  the  rebel- 
lion, have  hitherto  been  met  with  a  promptitude  and  certainty 
unusual  in  similar  circumstances  ;  and  the  public  credit  has 
been  fully  maintained.  The  continuance  of  the  war,  however, 
and  the  increased  disbursements  made  necessary  by  the  aug- 
mented forces  now  in  the  field,  demand  your  best  reflections  as 
to  the  best  modes  of  providing  the  necessary  revenue,  without 
injury  to  business,  and  with  the  least  possible  burdens  upon 
labor. 

The  suspension  of  specie  payments  by  the  banks,  soon  after 
the  commencement  of  your  last  session,  made  large  issues  of 
United  States  notes  unavoidable.  In  no  other  way  could  the 
payment  of  the  troops,  and  the  satisfaction  of  other  just 
demands,  be  so  economically,  or  so  well  provided  for.  The 
judicious  legislation  of  Congress,  securing  the  receivability  of 
these  notes  for  loans  and  internal  duties,  and  making  them  a 
legal  tender  for  other  debts,  has  made  them  an  universal  cur- 
rency ;  and  has  satisfied,  partially,  at  least,  and  for  the  time, 
the  long  felt  want  of  an  uniform  circulating  medium,  saving 
thereby  to  the  people  immense  sums  in  discounts  and  exchanges. 

A  return  to  specie  payments,  however,  at  the  earliest  period 
compatible  with  due  regard  to  all  interests  concerned,  should 
ever  be  kept  in  view.  Fhictuations  in  the  value  of  currency 
are  always  injurious,  and  to  reduce  these  fluctuations  to  the 
lowest  possible  point  will  always  be  a  leading  purpose  in  wise 
legislation.  Convertibility,  prompt  and  certain  convertibility 
into  coin,  is  generally  acknowledged  to  be  the  best  and  the 
surest  safeguard  against  them  ;  and  it  is  extremely.doubtful 
whether  a  circulation  of  United  States  notes,  payable  in  coin, 
and  sufficiently  large  for  the  wants  of  the  people,  can  be  per- 
manently, usefully  and  safely  maintained. 

Is  there,  then,  any  other  mode  in  which  the  necessary  pro- 
vision for  the  public  wants  can  be  made,  and  the  great  advan- 
tages of  a  safe  and  uniform  currency  secured  ? 

I  know  of  none  which  promises  so  certain  results,  and  is,  at 
the  same  time,  so  unobjectionable,  as  the  organization  of  bank- 
ing associations,  under  a  general  net  of  Congress,  well  guarded 


424  LIFE   Or   ABRAHAM   LINCOLN. 

in  its  provisions.  To  such  associations  the  Government  might 
furnish  circulating  notes,  on  the  security  of  the  United  States 
bonds  deposited  in  the  treasury.  These  notes,  prepared  under 
the  supervision  of  proper  officers,  being  uniform  in  appearance 
and  security,  and  convertible  always  into  coin,  would  at  once 
protect  labor  against  the  evils  of  a  vicious  currency,  and  facil- 
itate commerce  by  cheap  and  safe  exchanges. 

A  moderate  reservation  from  the  interest  on  the  bonds  would 
compensate  the  United  States  for  the  preparation  and  distri- 
bution of  the  notes,  and  a  general  supervision  of  the  system, 
and  would  lighten  the  burden  of  that  part  of  the  public  debt 
employed  as  securities.  The  public  credit,  moreover,  would  be 
greatly  improved,  and  the  negotiation  of  new  loans  greatly  fa- 
cilitated by  the  steady  market  demand  for  Government  bonds 
which  the  adoption  of  the  proposed  system  would  create. 

It  is  an  additional  recommendation  of  the  measure  of  con- 
siderable weight,  in  my  judgment,  that  it  would  reconcile,  as 
far  as  possible,  all  existing  interests,  by  the  opportunity  offered 
to  existing  institutions  to  reorganize  under  the  act,  substituting 
only  the  secured  uniform  national  circulation  for  the  local  and 
various  circulation,  secured  and  unsecured,  now  issued  by  them. 

The  receipts  into  the  treasury,  from  all  sources,  including 
loans,  and  balance  from  the  preceding  year,  for  the  fiscal  year 
ending  on  the  30th  June,  1862,  were  §583,885,247  06,  of 
which  sum  $49,056,397  62  were  derived  from  customs; 
$1,795,331  73  from  the  direct  tax;  from  public  lands 
6152,203  77;  from  miscellaneous  sources,  $931,787  64; 
from  loans  in  all  forms,  $529,692,460  50.  The  remainder, 
#2,257,065  80,  was  the  balance  from  last  year. 

The  disbursements  during  the  same  period  were  for  con- 
gressional, executive,  and  judicial  purposes,  $5,939,009  29; 
for  foreign  intercourse,  $1,339,710  35;  for  miscellaneous  ex- 
penses, including  the  mints,  loans,  post  office  deficiencies,  col- 
lection of  revenue,  and  other  like  charges,  $14,129,771  50; 
for  expenses  under  the  Interior  Department,  $3,102,985  52  ; 
under  the  War  Department,  $394,368,407  36  ;  under  the  Navy 
'Department,  $42,674,569  69;  for  interest  on  public  debt, 
$13,190,324  45 ;  and  for  payment  of  public  debt,  includ- 
ing reimbursement  of  temporary  loan,  and  redemptions, 
$96,096,922  09  ;  making  an  aggregate  of  $570,841,700  25, 
and  leaving  a  balance  in  the  treasury  on  the  first  day  of  July, 
1862,  of  $13,043,546  81. 

It  should  be  observed  that  the  sum  of  $96,096,922  09,  ex- 
pended for  reimbursements  and  redemption  of  public  debt, 
being  included  also  in  the  loans  made,  may  be  properly  de- 
ducted, both  from  receipts  and  expenditures,  leaving  the  actual 


LIFE   OF   ABRAHAM   LINCOLN.  425 

receipts  for  the  year,  $487,788,324  97 ;  and  the  expenditures, 
6474,744,778  16 

On  the  22d  day  of  September  last  a  proclamation  was  issued 
by  the  Executive,  a  copy  of  which  is  herewith  submitted. 

In  accordance  with  the  purpose  expressed  in  the  second  par- 
agraph of  that  paper,  I  now  respectfully  recall  your  attention  to 
what  may  be  called  "  compensated  emancipation." 

A  nation  may  be  said  to  consist  of  its  territory,  its  people 
and  its  laws.  The  territory  is  the  only  part  which  is  of  certain 
durability.  "  One  generation  passeth  away  and  another  genera- 
tion cometh,  but  the  earth  abideth  forever."  It  is  of  the  first 
importance  to  duly  consider,  and  estimate,  this  ever-enduring 
part.  That  portion  of  the  earth's  surface  which  is  owned  and 
inhabited  by  the  people  of  the  United  States,  is  well  adapted  to 
be  the  home  of  one  national  family  ;  and  it  is  not  well  adapted 
for  two,  or  more.  Its  vast  extent,  and  its  variety  of  climate 
and  productions,  are  of  advantage,  in  this  age,  for  one  people, 
whatever  they  might  have  been  in  former  ages.  Steam,  tele- 
graphs and  intelligence  have  brought  these  to  be  an  advantageous 
combination  for  one  united  people. 

In  the  inaugural  address  I  briefly  pointed  out  the  total  inade- 
quacy of  disunion,  as  a  remedy  for 'the  differences  between  the 
people  of  the  two  sections.  I  did  so  in  language  which  I  can 
not  improve,  and  which,  therefore,  I  beg  to  repeat : 

<(  One  section  of  our  country  believes  Slavery  is  right,  and 
ought  to  be  extended,  while  the  other  believes  it  is  wrong,  and 
ought  not  to  be  extended.  This  is  the  only  substantial  dis- 
pute. The  fugitive  slave  clause  of  the  Constitution,  and  the 
law  for  the  suppression  of  the  foreign  slave-trade,  are  each  as 
well  enforced,  perhaps,  as  any  law  can  ever  be  in  a  community 
where  the  moral  sense  of  the  people  imperfectly  supports  the  law 
itself.  The  great  body  of  the  people  abide  by  the  dry  legal  obli- 
gation in  both  cases,  and  a  few  break  over  in  each.  This,  I  think, 
can  not  be  perfectly  cured  ;  and  it  would  be  worse  in  both  cases 
after  the  separation  of  the  sections,  than  before.  The  foreign 
slave-trade,  now  imperfectly  suppressed,  would  be  ultimately 
revived  without  restriction  in  one  section ;  while  fugitive  slaves, 
now  only  partially  surrendered,  would  not  be  surrendered  at  all 
by  the  other. 

"  Physically  speaking,  we  can  not  separate.  We  can  not  re- 
move our  respective  sections  from  each  other,  nor  build  an  im- 
passable wall  between  them.  A  husband  and  wife  may  be 
divorced,  and  go  out  of  the  presence,  and  beyond  the  reach  of 
each  other ;  but  the  different  parts  of  our  country  can  not  do 
this.  They  can  not  but  remain  face  to  face  ;  and  intercourse, 
either  amicable  or  hostile,  must  continue  between  them.  Is  it 


42G  LIFE   OP   ABRAHAM    LINCOLN. 

possible,  then,  to  make  that  intercourse  more  advantageous,  or 
more  satisfactory,  after  separation  than  before  f  Can  aliens 
jnake  treaties  easier  than  friends  can  make  laws  ?  Can  treaties 
be  more  faithfully  enforced  between  aliens,  than  laws  can  among 
friends  ?  Suppose  you  go  to  war,  you  can  not  fight  always ;  and 
when,  after  much  loss  on  both  sides,  and  no  gain  on  either,  you 
cease  fighting,  the  identical  old  questions,  as  to  terms  of  inter- 
coarse,  are  again  upon  you." 

There  is  no  line,  straight  or  crooked,  suitable  for  a  National 
boundary,  upon  which  to  divide.  Trace  through,  from  east  to 
west,  upon  the  line  between  the  free  and  slave  country,  and  we 
shall  find  a  little  more  than  one-third  of  its  length  are  river?, 
easy  to  be  crossed,  and  populated,  or  soon  to  be  populated, 
thickly,  upon  both  sides;  while  nearly  all  it?  remaining  length 
are  merely  surveyors'  lines,  over  which  people  may  walk  back 
and  forth  without  any  consciousness  of  their  presence.  No 
part  of  this  line  can  be  made  any  more  difficult  to  pass,  by  writ- 
ing it  down  on  paper,  or  parchment,  as  a  national  boundary. 
The  fact  of  separation,  if  it  comes,  gives  up,  on  the  part  of  the 
seceding  section,  the  fugitive  slave  clause,  along  with  all  other 
constitutional  obligations  upon  the  section  seceded  from,  while 
I  should  expect  no  treaty  stipulation  would  ever  be  made  to 
take  its  place. 

But  there  is  another  difficulty.  The  great  interior  region, 
bounded  east  by  the  Alleghanies,  north  by  the  British  Domin- 
ions, west  by  the  Rocky  Mountains,  and  south  by  the  line  along 
which  the  culture  of  corn  and  cotton  meets,  and  which  includes 
part  of  Virginia,  part  of  Tennessee,  all  of  Kentucky,  Ohio,  In- 
diana, Michigan,  Wisconsin,  Illinois,  Missouri,  Kansas,  Iowa, 
Minnesota,  and  the  Territories  of  Dakotah,  Nebraska,  and  part 
of  Colorado,  already  has  above  ten  millions  of  people,  and  will 
have  fifty  millions  within  fifty  years,  if  not  prevented  by  any 
political  folly  or  mistake.  It  contains  more  than  one-third  of 
the  country  owned  by  the  United  States — certainly  more  than 
one  million  of  square  miles.  Once  half  as  populous  as  Massa- 
chusetts already  is,  it  would  have  more  than  seventy-five  mil- 
lions of  people.  A  glance  at  the  niap  shows  that,  territorially 
speaking,  it  is  the  great  body  of  the  Republic.  The  other 
parts  are  but  marginal  borders  to  it;  the  magnificent  region 
sloping  west  from  the  Rocky  Mountains  to  the  Pacific,  being 
the  deepest,  and  also  the  richest,  in  undeveloped  resources.  In 
the  production  of  provisions,  grains,  grasses,  and  all  which  pro- 
ceed from  them,  this  great  interior  region  is  naturally  one  of 
the  most  important  in  the  world.  Ascertain  from  the  statistics 
the  small  proportion  of  the  region  which  has,  as  yet,  been 
brought  into  cultivation,  and  also  the  large  and  rapidly  iucreas- 


LIFE   OP  ABRAHAM   LINCOLN.  427 

ing  amount  of  its  products,  and  we  shall  be  overwhelmed  with 
the  magnitude  of  the  prospect  presented.  And  yet  this  region 
has  no  sea-coast,  touches  no  ocean  any -where.  As  part  of  one 
nation,  its  people  now  find,  and  may  forever  find,  their  way  to 
Europe  by  New  York,  to  South  America  and  Africa  by  New 
Orleans,  and  to  Asia  by  San  Francisco.  But  separate  our  com- 
mon country  into  two  nations,  as  designed  by  the  present  rebel- 
lion, and  every  man  of  this  great  interior  region  is  thereby  cut 
off  from  some  one  or  more  of  these  outlets,  not,  perhaps,  by  a 
physical  barrier,  but  by  embarrassing  and  onerous  trade  regu- 
lations. 

And  this  is  true,  wherever  a  dividing  or  boundary  line  may  be 
fixed.  Place  it  between  the  now  free  and  slave  country,  or 
place  it  south  of  Kentucky,  or  north  of  Ohio,  and  still  the 
truth  remains,  that  none  south  of  it  can  trade  to  any  port  or 
place  north  of  it,  and  none  north  of  it  can  trade  to  any  port  or 
place  south  of  it,  except  upon  terms  dictated  by  a  government 
foreign  to  them.  These  outlets,  east,  west,  and  south,  are  in- 
dispensable to  the  well-being  of  the  people  inhabiting,  and  to 
inhabit,  this  vast  interior  region.  Which  of  the  three  may  be 
the  best,  is  no  proper  question.  All  are  better  than  either ; 
and  all,  of  right,  belong  to  that  people,  and  to  their  successors 
forever.  True  to  themselves,  they  will  not  ask  where  a  line  of 
separation  shall  be,  but  will  vow,  rather,  that  there  shall  be  no 
such  line.  Nor  are  the  marginal  regions  less  interested  in 
these  communications  to,  and  through  them,  to  the  great  out- 
side world.  They,  too,  and  each  of  them,  must  have  access  to 
this  Egypt  of  the  West,  without  paying  toll  at  the  crossing  of 
any  national  boundary. 

Our  National  strife  springs  not  from  our  permanent  part ; 
not  from  the  land  we  inhabit;  not  from  our  National  home- 
stead. There  is  no  possible  severing  of  this,  but  would  mul- 
tiply, and  not  mitigate,  evils  among  us.  In  all  its  adaptations 
and  aptitudes,  it  demands  union,  and  abhors  separation.  In 
fact,  it  would,  ere  long,  force  reunion,  however  much  of  blood 
and  treasure  the  separation  might  have  cost. 

Our  strife  pertains  to  ourselves — to  the  passing  generations 
of  men ;  and  it  can,  without  convulsion,  be  hushed  forever 
with  the  passing  of  one  generation. 

In  this  view,  I  recommend  the  adoption  of  the  following 
resolution  and  articles  amendatory  to  the  Constitution  of  the 
United  States: 

"Resolved  by  the  Senate  and  Hpuse  of  Representatives  of  the 
United  States  of  America  in  Congress  assembled,  (two-thirds  of 
both  Houses  concurring,)  That  the  following  articles  be  pro- 
posed to  the  Legislatures  (or  conventions)  of  the  several  State* 


428  LIFE  OP  ABRAHAM  LINCOLN. 

as  amendments  to  the  Constitution  of  the  United  States,  all  or 
any  of  which  articles,  when  ratified  by  three-fourths  of  the 
said  Legislatures  (or  conventions),  to  be  valid  as  part  or  parts 
of  the  said  Co&stitution,  viz.: 

"ARTICLE  — .  Every  State,  wherein  slavery  now  exists, 
which  shall  abolish  the  same  therein,  at  any  time,  or  times, 
before  the  first  day  of  January,  in  the  year  of  our  Lord  one 
thousand  and  nine  hundred,  shall  receive  compensation  from 
the  United  States  as  follows,  to-wit : 

"  The  President  of  the  United  States  shall  deliver,  to  every 
such  State,  bonds  of  the  United  States,  bearing  interest  at  the 

rate  of per  cent,  per  annum,  to  an  amount  equal  to  the 

aggregate  sum  of  for  each  slave  shown  to 

have  -been  therein,  by  the  eighth  census  of  the  United  States, 
said  bonds  to  be  delivered  to  such  State  by  installments,  or  in 
one  parcel,  at  the  completion  of  the  abolishment,  accordingly 
as  the  same  shall  have  been  gradual,  or  at  one  time,  within  such 
State ;  and  interest  shall  begin  to  run  upon  any  such  bond, 
only  from  the  proper  time  of  its  delivery  as  aforesaid.  Any 
State,  having  received  bonds  as  aforesaid,  and  afterward  re-in- 
troducing or  tolerating  slavery  therein,  shall  refund  to  the 
United  States  the  bonds  so  received,  or  the  value  thereof,  and 
all  interest  paid  thereon. 

"ARTICLE  — .  All  slaves  who  shall  have  enjoyed  actual 
freedom  by  the  chances  of  the  war,  at  any  time  before  the  end 
of  the  rebellion,  shall  be  forever  free ;  but  all  owners  of  such, 
who  shall  not  have  been  disloyal,  shall  be  compensated  for 
them,  at  the  same  rates  as  is  provided  for  States  adopting  abol- 
ishment of  slavery,  but  in  such  way,  that  no  slave  shall  be 
twice  accounted  for. 

"ARTICLE  — .  Congress  may  appropriate  money,  and  other- 
wise provide  for  colonizing  free  colored  persons,  with  their 
own  consent,  at  any  place  or  places  without  the  United  States." 

I  beg  indulgence  to  discuss  these  proposed  articles  at  some 
length.  Without  slavery,  the  rebellion  could  never  have  ex- 
isted ;  without  slavery,  it  could  not  continue. 

Among  the  friends  of  the  Union,  there  is  great  diversity  of 
sentiment,  and  of  policy,  in  regard  to  slavery,  and  the  African 
race  among  us.  Some  would  perpetuate  slavery;  some  would 
abolish  it  suddenly,  and  without  compensation;  some  would 
abolish  it  gradually,  and  with  compensation ;  some  would  re- 
move the  freed  people  from  us,  and  some  would  retain  them 
with  us ;  and  there  are  yet  other  minor  diversities.  Because 
of  these  diversities,  we  waste  much  strength  in  struggles  among 
ourselves.  By  mutual  concession  we  should  harmonize,  and 
act  together.  This  would  be  compromise ;  but  it  would  be 


LIFE   OP  ABRAHAM   LINCOLN.  429 

compromise  among  the  friends,  and  not  with  the  enemies  of 
the  Union.  These  articles  are  intended  to  embody  a  plan  of 
such  mutual  concessions.  If  the  plan  shall  be  adopted,  it  is 
assumed  that  emancipation  will  follow,  at  least  in  several  of 
the  States. 

As  to  the  first  article,  the  main  points  are :  first,  the  emanci- 
pation ;  secondly,  the  length  of  time  for  consummating  it — 
thirty-seven  years  ;  and,  thirdly,  the  compensation. 

The  emancipation  will  be  unsatisfactory  to  the  advocates  of 
perpetual  slavery ;  but  the  length  of  time  should  greatly  mitigate 
their  dissatisfaction.  The  time  spares  both  races  from  the 
evils  of  sudden  derangement — in  fact,  from  the  necessity  of 
any  derangement — while  most  of  those  whose  habitual  course 
of  thought  will  be  disturbed  by  the  measure,  will  have  passed 
away  before  its  consummation.  They  will  never  see  it.  An- 
other class  will  hail  the  prospect  of  emancipation,  but  will 
deprecate  the  length  of  time.  They  will  feel  that  it  gives  too 
little  to  the  now  living  slaves.  But  it  really  gives  them  much. 
It  saves  them  from  the  vagrant  destitution  which  must  largely 
attend  immediate  emancipation  in  localities  where  their  num- 
bers are  very  great ;  and  it  gives  the  inspiring  assurance  that 
their  posterity  shall  be  free  forever.  The  plan  leaves  to  each 
State,  choosing  to  act  under  it,  to  abolish  slavery  now,  or  at 
the  end  of  the  century,  or  at  any  intermediate  time,  or  by  de- 
grees, extending  over  the  whole  or  any  part  of  the  period ;  and 
it  obliges  no  two  States  to  proceed  alike.  It  also  provides  for 
compensation,  and,  generally,  the  mode  of  making  it.  This,  it 
would  seem,  must  further  mitigate  the  dissatisfaction  of  those 
who  favor  perpetual  slavery,  and  especially  of  those  who  are  to 
receive  the  compensation.  Doubtless,  some  of  those  who  are 
to  pay,  and  not  to  receive,  will  object.  Yet  the  measure  is 
both  just  and  economical.  In  a  certain  sense,  the  liberation 
of  slaves  is  the  destruction  of  property — property  acquired  by 
descent,  or  by  purchase,  the  same  as  any  other  property.  It  is 
no  less  true  for  having  been  often  said,  that  the  people  of  the 
South  are  not  more  responsible  for  the  original  introduction  of 
this  property,  than  are  the  people  of  the  North  ;  and  when  it 
is  remembered  how  unhesitatingly  we  all  use  cotton  and  sugar, 
and  share  the  profits  of  dealing  in  them,  it  may  not  be  quite 
safe  to  say,  that  the  South  has  been  more  responsible  than  the 
North  for  its  continuance.  If,  then,  for  a  common  object,  this 
property  is  to  be  sacrificed,  is  it  not  just  that  it  be  done  at  a 
common  charge? 

And  if,  with  less  money,  oj  money  more  easily  paid,  we  can 
preserve  the  benefits  of  the  Union  by  this  means,  than  we  can 
by  the  war  alone,  is  it  not  also  economical  to  do  it?  Let  us 


430  LIFE   OP   ABRAHAM   LINCOLN. 

consider  it  then.  Let  us  ascertain  the  sum  we  have  expended 
in  the  war  since  compensated  emancipation  was  proposed  last 
March,  and  consider  whether,  if  that  measure  had  been 
promptly  accepted,  by  even  some  of  the  slave  States,  the  same 
sum  would  not  have  done  more  to  close  the  war,  than  has  been 
otherwise  done.  If  so,  the  measure  would  save  money,  and,  in 
that  view,  would  be  a  prudent  and  economical  measure.  Cer- 
tainly it  is  not  so  easy  to  pay  something  as  it  is  to  pay  nothing  ; 
but  it  is  easier  to  pay  a  large  sum,  than  it  is  to  pay  a  larger  one. 
And  it  is  easier  to  pay  any  sum  when  we  are  able,  than  it  is  to 
pay  it  before  we  are  able.  The  war  requires  large  sums,  and 
requires  them  at  once.  The  aggregate  sum  necessary  for  com- 
pensated emancipation,  of  course,  would  be  large.  But  it  would 
require  no  ready  cash ;  nor  the  bonds  even,  any  faster  than  the 
emancipation  progresses.  This  might  not,  and  probably  would 
not,  close  before  the  end  of  the  thirty-seven  years.  At  that 
time  we  shall  probably  have  a  hundred  millions  of  people  to 
share  the  burden,  instead  of  thirty-one  millions,  as  now.  And 
not  only  so,  but  the  increase  of  our  population  may  be  expected 
to  continue  for  a  long  time  after  that  period,  as  rapidly  as 
before  ;  because  our  territory  will  not  have  become  full.  I  do 
not  state  this  inconsiderately.  At  the  same  ratio  of  increase 
which  we  have  maintained,  on  an  average,  from  our  first  Na- 
tional census,  in  1790,  until  that  of  I860,  we  should,  in  1900, 
have  a  population  of  103,208,415.  And  why  may  we  not  con- 
tinue that  ratio  far  beyond  that  period  ?  Our  abundant  room — 
our  broad  National  homestead — is  our  ample  resource.  Were 
our  territory  as  limited  as  are  the  British  Lsles,  very  certainly 
our  population  could  not  expand  as  stated.  Instead  of  receiv- 
ing the  foreign  born,  as  now,  we  should  be  compelled  to  send 
part  of  the  native  born  away.  But  such  is  not  our  condition. 
We  have  two  millions  nine  hundred  and  sixty-three  thousand 
square  miles.  Europe  has  three  millions  and  eight  hundred 
thousand,  with  a  population  averaging  seventy-three  and  one- 
third  persons  to  the  square  mile.  Why  may  not  our  country, 
at  some  time,  average  as  many  ?  Is  it  less  fertile  ?  Has  it 
more  waste  surface,  by  mountains,  rivers,  lakes,  deserts,  or  other 
causes?  Is  it  inferior  to  Europe  in  any  natural  advantage? 
If,  then,  we  are,  at  some  time,  to  be  as  populous  as  Europe, 
how  soon  ?  As  to  when  this  may  be,  we  can  judge  by  the  past 
and  the  present ;  as  to  when  it  will  be,  if  ever,  depends  much 
on  whether  we  maintain  the  Union.  Several  of  our  States  are 
already  above  the  average  of  Europe  —  seventy-three  and  a 
third  to  the  square  mile.  Massachusetts  has  157 ;  Rhode 
Island,  133 ;  Connecticut,  99 ;  New  York  and  New  Jersey, 
each,  80.  Also  two  other  great  States,  Pennsylvania  and  Ohio, 


LIFE    OP   ABRAHAM   LINCOLN.  431 

are  not  far  below,  the  former  having  63  and  the  latter  59.  The 
States  already  above  the  European  average,  except  New  York, 
have  increased  in  as  rapid  a  ratio,  since  passing,  that  point,  as 
ever  before  ;  while  no  one  of  them  is  equal  to  some  other  parts 
of  our  country,  in  natural  capacity  for  sustaining  a  dense 
population* 

Taking  the  nation  in  the  aggregate,  and  we  find  its  popula- 
tion and  ratio  of  increase,  for  the  several  decennial  periods,  to 
be  as  follows : 

1790 3,929,827 

1800 5,305,937       35.02  per  cent,  ratio  of  increase. 

1810 7,239,814       36.45 

1820 9,638,131       33.13 

1830 12,866,020      33.49        "  " 

1840 17,069,453       32.67         "  " 

1850 23,191,876      35.87 

1860 31,443,790       35.58         "  " 

This  shows  an  average  decennial  increase  of  34.60  per  cent, 
in  population  through  the  seventy  years  from  our  first,  to  our 
last  census  yet  taken.  It  is  seen  that  the  ratio  of  increase,  at 
no  one  of  these  seven  periods,  is  either  two  per  cent,  below,  or 
two  per  cent,  above,  the  average,  thus  showing  how  inflexible, 
and,  consequently,  how  reliable,  the  law  of  increase,  in  our 
case,  is.  Assuming  that  it  will  continue,  gives  the  following 
results : 

1870 42,323,341 

1880 56,967,216 

1890 76,677,872 

1900 103,208,415 

1910 138,918,526 

1920 186,984,335 

1930 251,680,914 

These  figures  show  that  our  country  may  be  as  populous  as 
Europe  now  is,  at  some  point  between  1920  and  1930 — say 
about  1925  —  our  territory,  at  seventy-three  and  a  third 
persons  to  the  square  mile,  being  the  capacity  to  contain 
217,186,000. 

And  we  will  reach  this,  too,  if  we  do  not  ourselves  relin- 
quish the  chance,  by  the  folly  and  evils  of  disunion,  or  by  long 
and  exhausting  war,  springing  from  the  only-great  element  of 
National  discord  among  us.  While  it  can  not  be  foreseen 
exactly  how  much  one  huge  example  of  secession,  breeding 
lesser  ones  indefinitely,  would  retard  population,  civilization, 
and  prosperity,  no  one  can  doubt  that  the  extent  of  it  would 
be  very  great  and  injurious. 
35 


432  LIFE   OP   ABRAHAM    LINCOLN. 

The  proposed  emancipation  would  shorten  the  war,  perpetu- 
ate peace,  insure  this  increase  of  population,  and  proportion- 
ately the  wealth  of  the  country.  With  these,  we  should  pay 
all  the  emancipation  would  cost,  together  with  our  other  debt, 
easier  than  we  should  pay  our  other  debt,  without  it.  If  we 
had  allowed  our  old  National  debt  to  run  at  six  per  cent,  per 
annum,  simple  interest,  from  the  end  of  our  Revolutionary 
struggle  until  to-day,  without  paying  any  thing  on  either  prin- 
cipal or  interest,  each  man  of  us  would  owe  less  upon  that  debt 
now,  than  each  man  owed  upon  it  then;  and  this  because  our 
increase  of  men,  through  the  whole  period,  has  been  greater 
than  six  per  cent.  ;  has  run  faster  than  the  interest  upon  the 
debt.  Thus,  time  alone  relieves  a  debtor  nation,  so  long  as 
its  population  increases  faster  than  unpaid  interest  accumulates 
on  its  debt. 

This  fact  would  be  no  excuse  for  delaying  payment  of  what 
is  justly  due  ;  but  it  shows  the  great  importance  of  time  in  this 
connection — the  great  advantage  of  a  policy  by  which  we  shall 
not  have  to  pay  until  we  number  a  hundred  millions,  what,  by 
a  different  policy,  we  would  have  to  pay  now,  when  we  number 
but  thirty-one  millions.  In  a  word,  it  shows  that  a  dollar  will 
be  much  harder  to  pay  for  the  war,  than  will  be  a  dollar  for 
emancipation  on  the  proposed  plan.  And -then  the  latter  will 
cost  no  blood,  no  precious  life.  It  will  be  a  saving  of  both. 

As  to  the  second  article.  I  think  it  would  be  impracticable  to 
return  to  bondage  the  class  of  persons  therein  contemplated. 
Some  of  them,  doubtless,  in  the  property  sense,  belong  to  loyal 
owners ;  and  hence,  provision  is  made  in  this  article  for  com- 
pensating such. 

The  third  article  relates  to  the  future  of  the  freed  people.  It 
does  not  oblige,  but  merely  authorizes,  Congress  to  aid  in  colo- 
nizing such  as  may  consent.  This  ought  not  to  be  regarded  as 
objectionable,  on  the  one  hand,  or  on  the  other,  in  so  much  as 
it  comes  to  nothing,  unless  by  the  mutual  consent  of  the  people 
to  be  deported,  and  the  American  voters,  through  their  repre- 
sentatives in  Congress. 

I  can  not  make  it  better  known  than  it  already  is,  that  I 
strongly  favor  colonization.  And  yet  I  wish  to  say  there  is  an 
objection  urged  against  free  colored  persons  remaining  in  the 
country,  which  is  largely  imaginary,  if  not  sometimes  malicious. 

It  is  insisted  that  their  presence  would  injure,  and  displace 
white  labor  and  white  laborers.  If  there  ever  could  be  a  proper 
time  for  mere  catch  arguments,  that  time  surely  is  not  now. 
In  times  like  the  present,  men  should  utter  nothing  for  which 
they  would  not  willingly  be  responsible  through  time  and  in 
eternity.  Is  it  true,  then,  that,  colored  people  can  displace 


LIFE    OP    ABRAHAM    LINCOLN.  433 

any  more  white  labor  by  being  free,  than  by  remaining  slaves? 
If  they  stay  in  their  old  places,  they  jostle  no  white  laborers ; 
if  they  leave  their  old  places,  they  leave  them  open  to  white 
laborers.  Logically,  there  is  neither  more  nor  less  of  it. 
Emancipation,  even  without  deportation,  would  probably  en- 
hance the  wages  of  white  labor,  and,  very  surely,  would  not 
reduce  them.  Thus,  the  customary  amount  of  labor  would 
still  have  to  be  performed ;  the  freed  people  would  surely  not 
do  more  than  their  old  proportion  of  it,  and  very  probably,  for 
a  time,  would  do  less,  leaving  an  increased  part  to  white  labor- 
ers, bringing  their  labor  into  greater  demand,  and,  conse- 
quently, enhancing  the  wages  of  it.  With  deportation,  even  to 
a  limited  extent,  enhanced  wages  to  white  labor  is  mathemati- 
cally certain.  Labor  is  like  any  other  commodity  in  the 
market — increase  the  demand  for  it,  and  you  increase  the  price 
ofjt.  Reduce  the  supply  of  black  labor,  by  colonizing  the 
black  laborer  out  of  the  country,  and,  by  precisely  so  much, 
you  increase  the  demand  for,  and  wages  of,  white  labor. 

But  it  is  dreaded  that  the  freed  people  will  swarm  forth,  and 
cover  the  whole  land?  Are  they  not  already  in  the  land?  Will 
liberation  make  them  any  more  numerous  ?  Equally  distributed 
among  the  whites  of  the  whole  country,  and  there  would  be  but 
one  colored  to  seven  whites.  Could  the  one,' in  any  way,  greatly 
disturb  the  seven  ?  There  are  many  communities  now,  having 
more  than  one  free  colored  person  to  seven  whites ;  and  this 
without  any  apparent  consciousness  of  evil  from  it.  The  Dis- 
trict of  Columbia,  and  the  States  of  Maryland  and  Delaware,  are 
all  in  this  condition.  The  District  has  more  than  one  free  col- 
ored to  six  whites ;  and  yet,  in  its  frequent  petitions  to 
Congress,  I  believe  it  has  never  presented  the  presence  of  free 
colored  persons  as  one  of  its  grievances.  But  why  should 
emancipation  South  send  the  freed  people  North  ?  People,  of 
any  color,  seldom  run,  unless  there  be  something  to  run  from. 
Heretofore,  colored  people,  to  some  extent,  have  fled  North 
from  bondage  ;  and  now,  perhaps,  from  both  bondage  and  desti-. 
tution.  But  if  gradual  emancipation  and  deportation  be 
adopted,  they  will  have  neither  to  flee  from.  Their  old  masters 
will  give  them  wages,  at  least  until  new  laborers  can  be  pro- 
cured ;  and  the  freed  men,  in  turn,  will  gladly  give  their  labor 
for  the  wages,  till  new  homes  can  be  found  for  them,  in  con- 
genial climes,  and  with  people  of  their  own  blood  and  race. 
This  proposition  can  be  trusted  on  the  mutual  interests  in- 
volved. And,  in  any  event,  can  not  the  North  decide  for  itself, 
whether  to  receive  them? 

Again,  as  practice  proves  more  than  theory,  in  any  case,  has 


434  LIFE   OF    ABRAHAM    LINCOLN. 

there  been  any  irruption  of  colored  people  northward,  because 
of  the  abolishment  of  slavery  in  this  District  last  spring? 

What  I  have  said  of  the  proportion  of  free  colored  persons 
to  the  whites,  in  the  District,  is  from  the  census  of  1860,  hav- 
ing no  reference  to  persons  called  contrabands,  nor  to  those 
made  free  by  the  act  of  Congress  abolishing  slavery  here. 

The  plan  consisting  of  these  articles  is  recommended,  not  but 
that  a  restoration  of  the  National  authority  would  be  accepted 
without  its  adoption. 

Nor  will  the  war,  nor  proceedings  under  the  proclamation  of 
September  22,  1862,  be  stayed  because  of  the  recommendation 
of  this  plan.  Its  timely  adoption,  I  doubt  not,  would  bring 
restoration,  and  thereby  stay  both. 

And,  notwithstanding  this  plan,  the  recommendation  that 
Congress  provide  by  law  for  compensating  any  State  which  may 
adopt  emancipation,  before  this  plan  shall  have  been  acted 
upon,  is  hereby  earnestly  renewed.  Such  would  be  only*an 
advance  part  of  the  plan,  and  the  same  arguments  apply  to 
both. 

This  plan  is  recommended  as  a  means,  not  in  exclusion  of, 
but  in  addition  to,  all  others  for  restoring  and  preserving  the 
National  authority  throughout  the  Union.  Tkfi  subject  is  pre- 
sented exclusively  in  its  economical  aspect.  The  plan  would, 
I  am  confident,  secure  peace  more  speedily,  and  maintain  it 
more  permanently,  than  can  be  done  by  force  alone ;  while 
all  it  would  cost,  considering  amounts,  and  manner  of  payment, 
and  times  of  payment,  would  be  easier  paid  than  will  be  the 
additional  cost  of  the  war,  if  we  rely  solely  upon  force.  It  is 
much — very  much — that  it  would  cost  no  blood  at  all. 

The  plan  is  proposed  as  permanent  constitutional  law.  It 
can  not  become  such  without  the  concurrence  of,  first,  two-thirds 
of  Congress,  and,  afterward,  three-fourths  of  the  States.  The 
requisite  three -fourths  of  the  States  will  necessarily  include 
seven  of  the  slave  States.  Their  concurrence,  if  obtained,  will 
give  assurance  of  their  severally  adopting  emancipation,  at  no 
very  distant  day,  upon  the  new  constitutional  terms.  This 
assurance  would  end  the  struggle  now,  and  save  the  Union  for- 
ever. 

I  do  not  forget  the  gravity  which  should  characterize  a  paper 
addressed  to  the  Congress  of  the  nation,  by  the  Chief  Magis- 
trate of  the  nation.  Nor  do  I  forget  that  some  of  you  are  my 
"seniors ;  nor  that  many  of  you  have  more  experience  than  I 
.  j  the  conduct  of  public  affairs.  Yet  I  trust  that,  in  view  ot 
Jie  great  responsibility  resting  upon  me,  you  will  perceive  no 
want  of  respect  to  yourselves,  in  any  undue  earnestness  I  may 
»eem  to  display. 


LIFE    OF    ABRAHAM    LINCOLN.  435 

Is  it  doubted,  then,  that  the  plan  I  propose,  if  adopted,  would 
shorten  the  war,  and  thus  lessen  its  expenditure  of  money  and 
of  blood?  Is  it  doubted  that  it  would  restore  the  National 
authority  and  National  prosperity,  and  perpetuate  both  indefi- 
nitely ?  Is  it  doubted  that  we  here — Congress  and  Executive — 
can  secure'  its  adoption  ?  Will  not  the  good  people  respond 
to  a  united  and  earnest  appeal  from  us  ?  Can  we,  can  they,  by 
any  other  means,  so  certainly,  or  so  speedily,  assure  these  Vital 
objects?  We  can  succeed  only  by  concert.  It  is  not,  "Can  any 
of  us  imagine  better?"  but,  "Can  we  all  do  better?"  Object 
whatsoever  is  possible,  still  the  question  recurs,  "  Can  we  do 
better  ?  "  The  dogmas  of  the  quiet  past  are  inadequate  to  the 
stormy  present.  The  occasion  is  piled  high  with  difficulty,  and 
we  must  rise  with  the  occasion.  As  our  case  is  new,  so  we 
must  think  anew,  and  act  anew.  We  must  disinthrall  ourselves, 
and  then  we  shall  save  our  country. 

Fellow-citizens,  we  can  not  escape  history.  We,  of  this  Con- 
gress and  this  Administration,  will  be  remembered  in  spite  of 
ourselves.  No  personal  significance,  or  insignificance,  can  spare 
one  or  another  of  us.  The  fiery  trial  through  which  we  pass, 
will  light  us  down,  in  honor  or  dishonor,  to  the  latest  genera- 
tion. We  say  we  are  for  the  Union.  The  world  will  not  forget 
that  we  say  this.  We  know  how  to  save  the  Union.  The  world 
knows  we  do  know  how  to  save  it.  We — even  we  here — hold 
the  power,  and  bear  the  responsibility.  In  giving  freedom  to 
the  slave,  we  assure  freedom  to  the  free — honorable  alike  in 
what  we  give,  and  what  we  preserve.  We  shall  nobly  save,  or 
meanly  lose,  the  last  best  hope  of  earth.  Other  means  may 
succeed  ;  this  could  not  fail.  The  way  is  plain,  peaceful,  gen- 
erous, just — a  way  which,  if  followed,  the  world  will  forever 
applaud,  and  God  must  forever  bless. 

ABRAHAM  LINCOLN. 

DECEMBER  1,  1862. 

.* 

During  the  session,  the  Opposition  leaders,  elated  with  their 

recent  successes  in  the  elections,  assumed  a  greater  boldness 
of  hostility  to  the  Administration,  some  of  them  defiantly 
avowing  their  desire  that  further  resistance  to  armed  rebellion 
should  cease.  Throughout  the  country,  the  mask  under  which 
so  many  Congressional  districts  had  lately  been  carried,  began 
to  be  gradually  withdrawn. 

Among  the  principal  transactions  of  this  session,  aside  from 
the  necessary  appropriations,  were  :  The  admission  of  the  new 
State  of  West  Virginia,  by  an  act  approved  Dec.  31, 1862  ;  the 


43G  LIFE   OP   ABRAHAM    LINCOLN. 

organization  of  the  new  territory  of  Arizona,  Feb.  24,  1863 ; 
the  passage  of  a  stringent  act  to  prevent  and  -punish  frauds 
upon  the  Government,  March  2,  1863;  the  enactment  of  a  law 
for  enrolling  and  calling  out  the  National  forces  (sometimes 
called  the  "conscription  act ;")  an  authorization  of  the  issue  of 
letters  of  marque  and  reprisal ;  the  organization  of  the  new 
territory  of  Idaho ;  and  the  passage  of  an  act  to  provide  for  the 
collection  of  abandoned  property  in  insurrectionary  districts ; 
the  last  four  measures  having  been  approved  on  the  3d  of 
March,  1863,  when  the  session  closed. 

Soon  after  the  adjournment  of  Congress,  a  closely  contested 
election  occurred  in  New  Hampshire,  in  which  the  Opposition 
spared  no  exertion  to  secure  a  popular  verdict  against  the 
Administration.  It  was  soon  manifest,  however,  that  a  change 
was  taking  place  in  the  public  mind — a  strong  reaction  from 
that  tone  of  sentiment  which  brought  political  defeat  in  the 
preceding  autumn.  The  election  had  a  highly  favorable  result. 
Connecticut  and  Rhode  Island,  also,  in  the  following  month, 
emphatically  indorsed  President  Lincoln  and  his  policy.  The 
most  trying  period  had  passed. 


LIFE   OF   ABRAHAM    LINCOLN.  437 


CHAPTER  X. 

Summary  of  Military  Movements  in  the  West. — Army  of  the  Poto- 
mac.— Gen.  Hooker  Superseded. — Gen.  Meade  takes  Command. — 
Battle  of  Gettysburg. 

AFTER  the  occupation  of  Corinth,  the  armies,  respectively 
commanded  by  Gens.  Grant  and  Buell,  had  separated  for  differ- 
ent undertakings.  Grant  was  to  advance  southward,  occupying 
the  military  positions  captured  along  the  banks  of  the  Missis- 
sippi, as  possession  of  that  river  was  gradually  recovered,  and 
cooperating  in  the  work,  as  occasion  was  presented.  Buell  was 
to  move  on  Chattanooga  and  to  attempt  the  relief  of  East  Ten- 
nessee, occupying  that  stronghold  and  cutting  the  Rebel  com- 
munications by  that  great  thoroughfare. 

In  carrying  out  this  policy,  Buell  gradually  moved  his  army 
to  the  vicinity  of  Chattanooga,  on  the  north  side  of  the  river, 
but  soon  found  himself  in  a  critical  position,  on  account  of  the 
weakness  of  so  lotig  a  line  of  communication  with  his  base  of 
supplies.  Bragg,  who  had  now  assumed  command  of  the  oppos- 
ing Rebel  army,  had  the  two  corps  of  Hardee  and  Polk  at  Chat- 
tanooga, and  that  of  Kirby  Smith  at  Knoxville — having  reached 
the  former  place  in  advance  of  Buell,  after  the  evacuation  of 
Corinth.  Gen.  Geo.  W.  Morgan,  with  a  considerable  Govern- 
ment force,  had  meanwhile  occupied  Cumberland  Gap,  which  he 
held  for  weeks,  but  was  finally  flanked  by  Kirby  Smith,  and  re- 
treated across  the  country  to  the  Ohio  river.  This  exposed  the 
left  of  Buell,  and  Morgan's  failure  was  fatal  to  the  campaign. 

While  Smith  pursued  his  course  toward  Lexington,  a  portion 
of  Bragg's  force,  on  the  21st  of  August,  crossed  the  Tennessee 
river,  at  Harrison,  a  short  distance  above  Chattanooga,  and 
turned  the  left  of  Buell,  moving  up  the  Sequatchie,  while  an- 
other detachment  moved  on  McMinnville.  A  junction  of  the 
three  Rebel  corps  was  to  be  effected  in  the  interior  of  Kentucky. 

An  advance  force  of  the  Rebels  appeared  before  Munfords- 
ville,  on  the  13th  of  September.  The  enemy  were  repulsed,  on 


438  LIFE  OF  ABRAHAM  LINCOLN. 

the  14tJ^  by  the  small  force  there,  under  command  of  Col. 
Wilder,  but  the  place  was  surrendered  on  the  17th.  Buell 
meanwhile  moved  with  celerity,  and,  approaching  Louisville, 
compelled  the  enemy  to  turn  aside  from  his  movement  on  that 
city,  to  open  communication  with  the  remainder  of  his  forces, 
at  Lexington  and  elsewhere.  On  the  18th,  Bragg  issued  a 
proclamation  at  Glasgow,  calling  upon  the  people  of  Kentucky 
to  rally  to  his  support.  On  the  4th  of  October,  Buell  arrived 
at  Bardstown,  on  his  way  to  meet  the  enemy.  On  the  same 
day,  a  Rebel  "  Provisional  Governor  "  of  Kentucky  was  pro- 
claimed at  Frankfort,  a  portion  of  Bragg's  forces  having  pos- 
session of  the  State  Capital. 

During  the  hurrying  to  and  fro  of  these  opposing  armies,  not 
a  little  excitement  prevailed  at  Cincinnati  and  Louisville,  in 
view  of  the  apparent  danger  impending.  Both  cities  were 
almost  entirely  undefended ;  and  now  might  be  seen  the  full 
significance  of  the  memorable  Buckner-McClellan  compact. 
The  Kentucky  bights  opposite  the  city,  instead  of  being  held 
and  fortified,  were  open  to  scarcely  disputed  occupancy  by  the 
invaders.  Works  were  speedily  thrown  up  before  Cincinnati, 
and  Gen.  Wallace,  who  was  assigned  to  the  command  of  this 
post,  soon  found  a  large  number  of  men  at  his  disposal,  many 
thousands  of  the  people  of  Ohio  and  Indiana  having  rallied  at  the 
call  of  the  State  authorities.  The  events  of  this  invasion  and 
"  siege  "  will  long  have  a  prominent  place  in  local  tradition 
and  history. 

On  the  6th,  Gen.  Buell 's  advance  reached  Springfield,  sixty 
miles  from  Louisville,  between  Danville  and  Bardstown.  His 
army  at  this  time  was  organized  into  three  corps,  respectively 
commanded  by  Gens.  Gilbert,  Crittenden  and  McCook.  Learn- 
ing that  a  considerable  Rebel  force  was  at  Perryville,  a  few 
miles  distant,  on  the  7th,  Buell  formed  the  plan  of  surround- 
ing the  portion  of  the  enemy  there,  bringing  each  of  his  corps 
into  action.  Gen.  Crittenden,  however,  failed  to  come  up  in 
time,  and  Bragg,  learning  this  fact,  determined  to  fall  upon 
McCook  and  Gilbert,  recalling  Hardce's  corps  to  Perryville  for 
that  purpose,  after  he  was  already  on  his  retreat.  On  the  8th, 
the  battle  was  fought,  McCook's  force  suffering  heavily  before 


LIFE  OF  ABRAHAM  LINCOLN.  439 

reenforcements  from  Gilbert  arrived,  after  3  o'clock  P.  M.  The 
conflict  continued  until  dark,  the  Government  forces  falling 
back.  Crittenden's  corps  came  up  that  night,  and  Bragg 
retreated  without  renewing  the  engagement. 

Buell's  loss  in  this  engagement,  including  Brig.  Gens.  Jack- 
son and  Terrill,  is  stated  at  466  killed,  1,463  wounded,  and 
160  missing — a  total  of  2,089.  The  Rebel  loss  was  estimated 
at  about  the  same. 

Bragg  succeeded  in  making  his  escape  with  a  large  amount 
of  spoils,  consisting  mainly  of  various  supplies,  of  which  his 
army  was  greatly  in  need.  He  retired  by  way  of  Stanford  and 
Mount  Vernon,  where  pursuit  ceased,  and  from  whence  Buell 
fell  back  on  the  line  of  Nashville  and  Louisville.  Here  he 
was  superseded  by  Gen.  Rosecrans,  under  the  President's  order 
of  the  25th  of  October. 

Gen.  Grant  having  sent  reenforcements  to  Buell  during  this 
period  of  marching  and  countermarching  in  Kentucky,  the  en- 
emy began  to  assume  a  threatening  attitude  in  front  of  his 
line,  which  extended  from  Corinth  to  Tuscumbia.  The  sec- 
ond brigade  of  Gen.  Stanley's  division  fell  back  from  the  latter 
place,  which  it  had  held  under  command  of  Col.  Murphy,  to 
luka,  on  the  10th  of  September,  and  the  Ohio  brigade,  hold- 
ing that  place,  withdrew,  on  the  llth,  to  Corinth,  leaving  Mur- 
phy's command  to  hold  the  post.  A  sudden  dash  of  Rebel 
cavalry  put  Murphy's  force  to  rout,  and  secured  a  large  amount 
of  booty  which  that  officer,  completely  surprised,  neglected  to 
destroy. 

Gen.  Rosecrans,  who  had  succeeded  to  the  command  surren- 
dered by  Gen.  Pope  on  going  to  Virginia,  took  prompt  meas- 
ures to  meet  the  emergency.  The  force  under  Price  appears 
to  have  been  sent  forward  for  the  purpose  of  either  cooperat- 
ing with  Bragg,  or  of  drawing  away  troops  from  Corinth,  to 
facilitate  its  capture  by  Van  Dorn.  The  movement  was  met 
by  an  attempt  of  Gen.  Grant  to  cut  off  the  retreat  of  Price, 
and  to  force  him  to  surrender  his  army,  numbering,  as  report- 
ed, about  15,000  men.  A  force  of  about  5,000  men,  under 
Gen.  Ord,  (who  was  accompanied  by  Gen.  Grant  in  person,) 
was  to  move  toward  Burnsville,  to  attack  in  front,  while  Gen. 


440  LIFE   OP   ABRAHAM    LINCOLN. 

Rosecrans  was  to  take  part  of  his  command  by  Jaeinto  to  at 
tack  the  flank  of  Price's  army.  The  execution  of  this  plan 
commenced  on  the  18th  of  September.  Kosecrans,  advancing 
by  rapid  marches,  in  a  heavy  rain,  fell  in  with  the  Rebel  pick- 
ets on  the  following  day,  seven  miles  from  luka,  and  a  skir- 
mish ensued,  the  force  encountered  falling  back  toward  that 
village.  The  forces  of  Rosecrans  were  now  concentrated  at 
Barnett's,  and  after  waiting  two  hours  for  the  expected  sound 
of  Ord's  cannon,  a  dispatch  from  Gen.  Grant,  on  the  other 
eide  of  luka,  was  received,  saying  that  he  was  waiting  for 
Rosecrans  to  open  on  the  enemy.  The  force  was  then  moved 
up  from  Barnett's  to  within  two  miles  of  luka,  where  the  Reb- 
els were  found  in  strong  position  on  a  commanding  ridge.  A 
hot  engagement  immediately  commenced,  which  lasted  more 
than  two  hours,  closing  at  nightfall. 

Gen.  Hamilton's  division  bore  the  brunt  of  this  conflict, 
aided  by  the  Eleventh  Ohio  Battery,  which,  iu  half  an  hour  of 
the  thickest  of  the  fight,  lost  72  men  in  killed  and  wounded. 
The  Fifth  Iowa  Regiment  lost  116  men  in  killed  and  wounded, 
and  the  Eleventh  Missouri,  76.  The  fiercest  contest  was  over 
the  Ohio  battery,  twice  captured  by  the  Rebels,  twice  retaken 
at  the  point  of  the  bayonet.  During  the  night,  Price  escaped, 
retiring  to  Bay  Spring.  Grant  and  Ord  had  not  been  able,  it 
appears,  to  engage  the  enemy,  or  to  prevent  his  flight.  The 
road  by  which  he  withdrew  was  one  unknown  to  the  command- 
ing General.  The  loss  of  Rosecrans  was  148  killed,  570 
wounded,  and  94  missing — a  total  of  812.  He  took  several 
hundred  prisoners  from  Price,  whose  other  losses  were  believed 
to  be  greater  than  those  of  Rosecrans,  including  two  or  three 
generals  killed. 

This  battle  had  the  effect  of  preventing  Price  from  render- 
ing any  direct  aid  to  Bragg,  in  his  incursion  through  Ken- 
tucky, one  apprehended  purpose  of  this  movement.  The 
retreating  column  was  pursued  for  some  distance,  and  its  loss 
in  arms  and  other  property  was  large. 

On  the  26th  of  September,  Gen.  Rosecrans  took  command 
at  Corinth,  Gen.  Grant  proceeding  to  Jackson,  and  Gen.  Ord  to 
Bolivar — both  on  the  Mobile  and  Ohio  railroad,  north  of 


LIFE   OP   ABRAHAM   LINCOLN.  441 

Grand  Junction.  Price,  continuing  his  retreat  to  Baldwin, 
Mississippi,  moved  to  Dumas,  fifteen  miles  northwest,  and 
effected  a  junction  with  Van  Dorn.  He  was  afterward  joined 
by  Mansfield  Lovell  at  Pocahontas,  Van  Dorn  having  chief 
command  of  the  concentrated  force.  Gen.  Rosecrans  antici- 
pated an  attack  on  Corinth,  and  prepared  accordingly.  The 
position  was  regarded  as  a  strong  one,  Gen.  Halleck  having 
much  improved  the  defensive  works  of  the  place,  after  its 
evacuation  by  Beauregard. 

The  forces  under  Van  Dorn's  command  having  concentrated 
at  Ripley,  crossed  the  Hatchie  river  and  occupied  the  railroad 
north  of  Corinth,  on  which  they  advanced  on  the  2d  of  Octov- 
ber,  cutting  off  direct  communication  with  Bolivar  and  Jack- 
.son.  A  force  was  sent  by  Gen.  Grant,  however,  under  com- 
mand of  McPherson,  which  seasonably  arrived  at  Corinth  by  a 
circuitous  route.  Of  the  four  divisions  of  Rosecraus  at  Cor- 
inth, three,  under  Gens.  Hamilton,  Davies  and  McKean,  were 
drawn  up  in  line  of  battle  near  the  outer  intrenchments,  while 
the  other  division  remained  in  the  town  as  a  reserve.  Heavy 
skirmishing  was  kept  up  through  the  day  on  the  3d.  On  the 
morning  of  the  4th,  two  dense  assaulting  columns  approached, 
about  9  o'clock — one  on  the  right,  under  the  lead  of  Price ; 
the  other  on  the  left,  under  Van  Dorn.  The  movement  was 
intended  to  be  simultaneous,  but  Price,  having  a  less  obstructed 
route,  first  forced  his  way,  under  the  destructive  fire  of  numer- 
ous heavy  guns,  quite  within  the  outer  intrenchments.  For  a 
moment,  the  division  of  Davies  fell  back,  and  all  seemed  lost. 
Rosecrans  in  person  rallied  his  men,  however,  and  under  the 
gallant  conduct  of  the  Fifty-sixth  Illinois  Regiment,  which 
delivered  an  effective  fire  of  musketry  and  advanced  with  a 
resolute  charge  of  bayonets,  the  enemy  was  driven  back,  and 
scattered  with  terrible  havoc.  This  brilliant  affair  was  well 
over,  when  Van  Dorn,  approaching  in  a  similar  manner,  found 
himself  confronted  by  Hamilton's  division — the  Ohio  brigade, 
under  Col.  Fuller,  and  the  Eleventh  Missouri  Regiment,  bear- 
ing the  brunt  of  the  fight,  on  the  part  of  the  infantry  force. 
The  batteries  on  this  side  of  the  town,  also,  did  frightful  exe- 
cution, and  Van  Dorn's  column  failed  to  gain  a  foothold  within 


442  LIFE   OP   ABRAHAM    LINCOLN. 

the  intrenchments.  He  was  driven  back  with  great  slaughter, 
the  guns  sweeping  away  the  retreating  masses  with  unsparing 
fury. 

The  Rebel  force  outnumbered  that  on  the  Government  side, 
two  to  one,  but  from  the  character  of  the  fight  their  losses 
were  greatly  disproportionate.  Those  of  Van  Dora  were  1,423 
killed,  and,  by  the  usual  estimate,  5,692  wounded.  He  also 
lost  2,265  prisoners — making  a  total  of  9,380.  In  small  arms, 
cannon,  ammunition,  and  other  property,  his  loss  was  also 
large.  Further  damage  was  inflicted  by  the  forces  sent  out  in 
pursuit.  Rosecrans  had  315  killed,  1,812  wounded,  and  230 
taken  prisoners  or  missing — in  all,  2,357.  This  was  one  of  the 
most  decisive  victories  of  the  war. 

On  the  24th  of  October,  an  attempt  was  made  by  Breckin- 
ridge  to  recover  Baton  Rouge,  which  was  occupied  by  a  Gov- 
ernment force  under  Gen.  Williams,  (who  lost  his  life  in  the 
engagement,)  but  the  attempt  was  defeated,  by  a  decisive  vic- 
tory over  the  assailants. 

The  stronghold  of  Vicksburg  had  as  yet  proved  an  insupera- 
ble obstacle  to  the  recovery  of  full  possession  of  the  Missis- 
sippi river.  It  had  become  manifest  that  a  strong  land  force 
was  required  to  cooperate  in  the  reduction  of  the  place.  An 
expedition  for  this  purpose  was  accordingly  organized  at  Cairo 
and  Memphis,  under  Gen.  W.  T.  Sherman,  to  proceed  down 
the  Mississippi  in  transports,  and  to  approach  the  city  in  the 
rear  from  the  Yazoo  river.  It  was  also  intended  that  Gen. 
Grant,  commanding  the  department  within  which  these  opera- 
tions were  to  be,  should  advance  southward  by  the  Mississippi 
Central  railroad,  coming  in  with  his  forces  by  Jackson,  Miss., 
to  aid  Sherman  in  this  undertaking.  Gen.  Hovey's  division  of 
7,000  men,  was  sent  by  Gen.  Curtis  from  Helena,  Ark.,  now 
occupied  by  a  Government  force,  to  cut  the  railroad  beyond 
the  Tallahatchie,  intercepting  the  Rebels  in  their  retreat.  This 
having  been  accomplished,  the  detachment  returned  to  Arkan- 
sas. Its  appearance,  however,  had  served  to  alarm  the  enemy, 
leading  to  an  overestimate  of  the  strength  of  Grant's  column. 
Gen.  Pemberton,  commanding  a  Rebel  force  at  Grenada,  con- 
sequently fell  back  toward  Canton.  Grant's  advance,  under 


LIFE   OF   ABRAHAM   LINCOLN.  44$ 

Hamilton,  occupied  Holly  Springs  on  the  29th  of  November. 
On  the  4th  of  December,  Grant  established  his  headquarters 
at  Oxford,  and  was  preparing  to  advance  on  Grenada.  The 
withdrawal  of  Hovey's  force,  however,  becoming  known  to  Van 
Dorn,  he  sent  out  an  expedition,  which  made  a  rapid  advance 
on  Holly  Springs,  in  Grant's  rear,  defeating  the  garrison  there 
on  the  20th,  through  the  culpable  neglect  of  Col.  Murphy,  in 
command  of  the  post,  and  destroying  the  Government  stores, 
collected  in  large  quantity  at  that  place.  A  similar  attack  at 
Davis'  Mills,  further  north,  was  gallantly  repulsed  by  the  gar- 
rison under  command  of  Col.  W.  H.  Morgan.  A  body  of  Rebel 
cavalry  under  Forrest,  at  nearly  the  same  time,  made  an  attack  on 
Jackson,  in  Tennessee,  destroying  the  railroad  for  some  distance; 
the  town  of  Humboldt,  on  the  same  road,  further  north,  was 
occupied  ;  Trenton  was  surrendered  by  Col.  Fry,  the  officer  in. 
command,  much  property  being  destroyed ;  and  other  points 
on  the  road  were  captured.  Though  Forrest  was  soon  after 
utterly  routed,  these  combined  disasters,  but  especially  that  at 
Holly  Springs,  led  Gen.  Grant  to  fall  back,  abandoning  the 
intended  movement  further  southward.  As  the  event  proved, 
this  turn  of  affairs  was  fortunate,  for  the  subsequent  unusual 
rise  in  the  rivers  of  that  country  would  have  cut  off  alike  his 
communications  and  his  line  of  retreat,  seriously  imperiling 
his  whole  force. 

Gen.  Sherman's  expedition  took  its  departure  down  the  river, 
from  Memphis,  on  the  20th  of  December,  over  one  hundred  trans- 
ports conveying  his  troops.  In  the  night  of  the  24th,  having 
arrived  at  Milliken's  Bend,  a  detachment  under  Gen.  Morgan  L. 
Smith  landed  on  the  west  bank  of  the  Mississippi,  and  destroyed 
a  section  of  the  Vicksbung  and  Texas  railroad,  ten  miles  from 
the  river,  returning  to  the  main  army.  Christmas  having  been 
passed  at  Milliken's  Bend,  the  expedition  proceeded  up  the 
Yazoo  river,  and  on  the  morning  of  the  27th,  the  troops  dis- 
embarked, the  right  at  the  plantation  of  the  late  Gen.  Albert 
Sidney  Johnston,  and  the  center  and  left  extending  along  Lake's 
plantation,  to  within  two  or  three  miles  of  Haines'  Bluff,  where 
a  Rebel  battery  and  force  prevented  a  further  advance  up  the 
river.  The  line  was  extended  about  six  miles  along  the  Yazoo. 


444  LIFE   OP   ABRAHAM   LINCOLN. 

A  gunboat  fleet  on  the  Mississippi  meanwhile  cooperated, 
assaulting  the  place  from  the  opposite  side,  with  no  material 
success,  and  receiving  not  a  little  damage. 

The  face  of  the  country,  for  the  eight  or  ten  miles  inter- 
vening between  this  position  and  the  high  ground  on  which 
the  city  of  Vicksburg  stands,  is  first  low  and  marshy,  with 
lagoons,  sandbars  and  bayous,  and  then  peculiarly  rough,  deep 
ravines  alternating  with  precipitous  bluffs,  mostly  wooded,  or 
covered  with  cane-brake  and  rank  undergrowth.  Among  these 
natural  defenses  there  nestled  masked  batteries  and  rifle  pits, 
manned  by  an  ample  force  gathered  to  meet  this  expected 
assault  upon  the  rear  of  Vicksburg. 

On -attempting  to  advance,  determined  resistance  was  encoun- 
tered from  the  enemy,  who  was  gradually  driven  back,  during 
eight  hours  of  hard  fighting,  closing  at  night.  On  the  28th, 
the  conflict  was  early  renewed,  continuing  with  varying  suc- 
cess, but  with  little  permanent  change  of  position,  through  the 
day.  On  the  following  morning,  a  general  assault  on  the  Rebel 
works  was  every -where  repulsed,  with  heavy  loss.  Tlie  30th 
was  mostly  spent  in  burying  the  dead  and  transferring  the 
wounded  to  the  transports.  The  undertaking  was  now  aban- 
doned. The  forces  of  Sherman,  reembarking,  returned  to  Mil- 
liken's  Bend,  and  there  went  into  camp,  at  the  beginning  of 
the  new  year. 

Gen.  Burnside,  on  assuming  commaYid  of  the  Army  of  the 
Potomac,  determined  on  an  advance  toward  Richmond  by  way 
of  Fredericksburg,  instead  of  executing  another  plan  of 
advance  preferred  (without  being  ordered)  by  the  President 
and  Gen.  Halleck.  A  force  occupied  Acquia  Creek,  and  com- 
menced repairing  the  railroad  which  Jiad  been  destroyed  by  the 
Rebels.  Pontoons  were  ordered,  to  be  in  readiness  for  a  rapid 
movement,  Burnside  being  nearer  than  the  enemy  to  Falmouth, 
where  the  crossing  was  to  be  made,  and  no  considerable  force 
then  occupying  Fredericksburg.  Chiefly  through  a  mortify- 
ing dilatoriness  on  the  part  of  the  proper  officer  at  Washing- 
ton, in  forwarding  the  pontoons,  Lee  gained  time  to  move  his 
force  and  to  take  the  position  he  desired  for  meeting  the 
intended  advance.  The  principal  battle  resulting  from  this 


LIFE   OP   ABRAHAM    LINCOLN.  445 

movement  occurred  on  the  13th  of  December,  when  Burnside's 
forces  endeavored  to  carry  the  enemy's  strong  position  on  Fred- 
ericksburg  hights,  by  assault.  After  a  hard-fought  contest, 
through  the  day,  attended  by  partial  successes — Gen.  Meade 
having  temporarily  carried  a  portion  of  the  enemy's  works — 
night  found  the  army  still  unsuccessful,  and  suffering  heavy 
losses.  The  position  held  in  town  and  across  the  Rappahan- 
nock  was  retained  by  Burnside  during  the  next  two  days,  but 
the  morning  of  the  16th  found  the  whole  army  safely  with- 
drawn to  the  Falmouth  side,  without  any  loss  or  interruption 
in  this  retrograde  movement. 

The  losses  in  Gen.  Sumners  grand  division  (the  Second  and 
Ninth'  Corpsi)  on  the  right,  were  473  killed,  4,090  wounded, 
748  missing;  in  Gen.  Hooker's  grand  division  (the  Third  and 
Fifth  Corps,)  in  'the  center,  326  killed,  2,468  wounded,  754 
missing ;  and  in  Gen.  Franklin's  grand 'division  (the  First  and 
Sixth  Corps,)  on  the  left,  339  killed,  2,547  wounded,  and  576 
missing — a  total  of  12,321. 

The  army  now  went  into  winter  quarters,  little  being  done 
until  Gen.  Burnside  was  relieved,  and  Gen.  Joseph  Hooker 
appointed  in  his  place,  assuming  command  of  the  Army  of  the 
Potomac  on  the  26th  of  January.  At  the  same  time,  Gens. 
Franklin  and  Sumner  were  relieved,  being  presently  assigned 
to  othor  commands. 

Gen.  Rosecrans  arrived  at  Nashville  on  the  10th  of  Novem- 
ber, ami  proceeded  to  reorganize  the  Army  of  the  Cumberland, 
which  wiB  increased  by  new  levies  and  put  in  excellent  condi- 
tion, and  to  restore  the  railroad  communication  between  Lou- 
isville an!  Nashville.  The  Rebel  army,  on  the  other  hand, 
now  undei  command  of  Gen.  Joseph  E.  Johnston,  was  con- 
centrating .\t  Murfreesboro  and  vicinity,  prepared  to  contest 
any  advance  o*  the  Government  forces.  Supposing,  from  the 
information  ho  had,  that  Rosecrans  would  go  into  winter  quar- 
ters at  Nashviilo,  Johnston  detached  the  cavalry  force  under 
Forrest,  which  wa«i  to  cut  the  railroad  in  West  Tennessee,  in 
Grant's  rear,  and  another  body  of  cavalry  under  Morgan  to 
make  a  raid  into  Kentucky,  to  perform  a  like  service  in  the 
rear  of  Rosecrans.  Instead  of  helplessly  calling  for  reenforce- 


446  LIFE   OF   ABRAHAM    LINCOLN. 

ments,  Rosecrans  improved  the  opportunity  afforded  by  this 
weakening  of  Johnston's  army,  to  strike  an  effective  blow. 
He  began  to  move  on  the  enemy  on  the  26th  of  December. 
McCook,  with  three  divisions,  advanced  on  Triune  to  attack 
Hardee,  whose  corps  was  believed  to  be  between  that  place  and 
Eagleville ;  but  it  had  retreated  on  McCook's  approach,  and 
was  pursued  until  it  was  found  that  he  had  gone  to  Murfrees- 
boro,  where  Polk  and  Kirby  Smith's  forces  were.  Thomas  and 
Crittenden  also  advanced  on  Nolinsville,  Stewart'*  Creek,  and 
Lavergne.  Folk's  corps  and  Wheeler's  brigade  of  cavalry  had 
been  stationed  at  the  last-named  place,  but  retired  before  Crit- 
tenden's  advance. 

On  the  28th,  being  Sunday,  the  troops,  for  the  most  part, 
rested.  Meanwhile,  the  Rebel  purpose  of  concentrating  near 
Stone  River  was  developed.  The  enemy's  right,  under  Polk, 
consisting  of  the  three  divisions  of  Cheatham,  Buckner  and 
Breckinridge,  rested  on  the  Lebanon  pike — the  center,  under 
Kirby  Smith,  extended  westward,  and  the  left,  commanded  by 
Hardee,  rested  on  the  Murfreesboro  and  Franklin  road.  On 
the  29th,  the  Government  forces  moved  up  nearer  to  the  Rebel 
line,  taking  position  preparatory  to  assuming  the  offensive. 
On  the  30th,  McCook,  on  the  right,  finding  his  position  in  dan- 
ger of  being  turned  by  Hardee,  advanced  his  line,  under  fire 
from  the  enemy,  to  avoid  this  result.  On  the  31st,  early  in  the 
morning,  the  Rebels  suddenly  made  an  attack  in  heavy  force 
along  the  entire  line  of  McCook.  His  forces  were  driven  back 
with  the  loss  of  many  prisoners,  but  the  ground  was  well  con- 
tested by  the  division  of  Davis,  especially,  and  the  purpose  of 
turning  the  right  of  Rosecrans  failed. 

The  right  having  thus  fallen  back,  Gen.  Rosecrans  prepared 
for  an  advance  of  the  enemy  upon  his  center  and  left,  by  mass- 
ing his  artillery  at  the  anticipated  point  of  assault,  and  sent 
forward  Negley 's  division,  sustained  by  that  of  Rousseau,  to  sup- 
port the  broken  forces  of  McCook.  This  movement  stopped 
further  pursuit  in  that  quarter.  The  Rebels  were  driven  back 
in  turn,  with  the  loss  of  many  prisoners.  The  forces  of  Negley 
and  Rousseau,  acting  under  orders,  retreated  on  meeting  another 
wave  of  battle,  and  the  Rebels  advanced  in  dense  numbers, 


LIFE   OP   ABRAHAM    LINCOLN.  447 

exulting  in  their  supposed  victory,  until  brought  within  the 
deadly  fire  of  the  newly-placed  batteries  of  Rosecrans,  not" 
hitherto  discovered.  Leaving  immense  numbers  of  dead  and 
wounded  on  the  field,  the  Rebel  forces  now  turned  and  fled  in 
confusion,  not  to  be  rallied  again  until  much  later  in  the  day. 
The  right  of  Rosecrans  had  been  forced  backward  more  than 
two  miles,  and  his  line  was  now  formed  anew,  the  flanks  having 
better  protection.  » 

The  Rebels  renewed  the  engagement,  about  3  o'clock  P. 
M.,  by  an  attack  on  the  center  and  left  of  our  army.  A  sharp 
and  destructive  conflict  continued  for  two  hours,  with  no  advan- 
tage to  the  assailants.  Gen.  Rosecrans,  who  was  personally  in 
the  thick  of  the  fight,  had  shown  rare  skill  and  energy  in 
handling  his  troops,  after  his  right  had  been  doubled  back  upon 
his  left.  A  change  of  front  was  successfully  accomplished 
under  fire,  and  a  seemingly  sure  defeat  turned  into  a  substantial 
victory. 

The  two  armies  confronted  each  other  during  the  next  three 
days,  without  becoming  actively  engaged.  On  the  4th  of  Jan- 
uary, Johnston  was  found  to  have  retreated,  and  Murfreesboro 
was  promptly  occupied  by  our  forces.  The  Government  loss, 
in  killed  and  wounded,  was  8,778,  and  about  2,800  in  prisoners. 
The  Rebel  loss  is  computed  by  Gen.  Rosecrans  at  14,560. 

This  summary  of-  military  events,  in  the  East  and  in  the 
West,  embraces  what  is  deemed  most  important  down  to  the 
e*e  of  the  campaigns  of  1863,  rendered  illustrious  by  the  great 
victories  at  Vicksburg,  Port  Hudson,  Gettysburg,  and  Chatta- 
nooga. The  first  two  years  of  the  war,  with  varying  successes 
in  detail,  had  resulted,  on  the  whole,  in  decided  advantages  to 
the  Government  arms.  Commencing  their  "Confederacy"  with 
seven  States,  the  conspirators  had  determined,  by  intrigue  arid 
by  the  force  of  arms,  to  wrest  the  remaining  eight  slaveholding 
States,  the  Indian  Territory,  New  Mexico,  and  Arizona,  from 
their  allegiance  to  the  Government,  and  to  add  this  immense 
region,  with  its  population,  to  the  side  of  the  Davis  usurpa- 
tion. The  vigorous  campaign  of  Gen.  Canby,  in  New  Mexico, 
and  the  victory  at  Fort  Craig,  in  1862,  hurled  back  the  invaders 
in  that  quarter  into  Texas,  while  the  grand  Rebel  defeat  at  Pea 


448  LIFE    OP   ABRAHAM   LINCOLN 

Ridge,  Ark.,  under  Gen.  Curtis,  in  March  of  the  same  year, 
had  put  an  end  to  all  hopes  of  any  Rebel  acquisition  in  the* 
Territories  of  the  United  States.  The  four  slave  States  of 
Virginia,  North  Carolina,  Tennessee,  and  Arkansas,  had  heen 
swept  into  the  Secession  rebellion  at  the  very  outset.  All  the 
determined  efforts  to  extend  the  Rebel  boundary  beyond  these 
States,  had  proved  abortive.  On  the  contrary,  the  spring  of 
1863  found  Arkansas  substantially  reclaimed ;  New  Orleans 
and  a  large  portion  of  Louisiana,  (including  the  State  capital,) 
restored  to  the  Government ;  the  Mississippi  river  reconquered 
during  its  entire  length,  except  the  comparatively  short  dis- 
tance from  Vicksburg  to  Port  Hudson,  inclusive ;  the  capital 
of  Tennessee,  and  most  of  the  western  and  middle  parts  of  the 
State,  occupied  by  Government  garrisons ;  the  western  half  of 
Virginia  reorganized  under  a  loyal  government,  and  much  of 
Eastern  Virginia  firmly  held  ;  a  permanent  foothold  gained  on 
the  coasts  of  North  Carolina,  South  Carolina,  and  Florida ; 
Northern  Alabama  returning  to  sentiments  of  loyalty,  under 
the  supporting  presence  of  Government  troops^  a  blockade, 
under  the  active  operations  of  our  formidable  Navy,  pressing 
heavily  upon  the  rebellious  States ;  and  the  power  of  slavery 
materially  crippled,  under  the  effects  of  the  Emancipation. 
Proclamation  of  the  President,  deranging  the  productive  in- 
terests of  the  rebellion,  and  adding  a  new  element  of  increas- 
ing strength  to  our  arms. 

To  save  their  waning  cause,  the  Rebels  were  now  puttia^ 
forth  every  energy  to  hold  their  trans-Mississippi  communica- 
tions, the  Red  river  country  and  Texas  being  among  their  most 
abundant  sources  of  supplies.  To  this  end,  it  was  necessary  to 
keep  their  strongholds  at  Vicksburg  and  Port  Hudson.  A 
land  force  under  Gen.  Banks  (who  had  succeeded  Gen.  Butler 
as  commander  of  the  Department  of  the  Gulf,)  and  the  fleet  of 
Admiral  Farragut,  began  the  work  of  reducing  the  latter  post, 
on  the  8th  of  May.  After  severe  engagements  on  land  and 
water,  during  the  next  two  months,  the  place  being  closely 
invested,  Port  Hudson  was  unconditionally  surrendered  on  the 
8th  of  July,  with  its  garrison,  numbering  6,223.  This  event, 
however,  was  preceded  by  the  fall  of  Vicksburg,  and  may  be 


LIFE   OP   ABRAHAM   LINCOLN.  449 

\ 

regarded  as  partly  the  result  of  the  brief  and  brilliant  campaign 
of  Gen.  Grant,  which  terminated  in  the  surrender  of  that  more 
important  stronghold,  on  the  4th  of  July. 

Running  transports  past  the  batteries  at  Vicksburg,  and 
crossing  the  river  near  the  mouth  of  the  Big  Black,  on  the  30th 
of  April,  with  about  40,000  men,  Gen.  Grant  occupied  Grand 
Gulf,  which  had  been  forced  by  Admiral  Porter  to  surrender, 
after  a  vigorous  bombardment ;  defeated  the  enemy  near  Port 
Gibson,  on  the  1st  of  May  ;  moved  rapidly  northward  to  inter- 
pose his  force  between  the  covering  army  of  Johnston  and  the 
troops  of  Pemberton,  advancing  from  Vicksburg  ;  gained  deci- 
sive victories  at  Raymond,  on  the  12th  ;  at  Jackson,  the  State 
capital,  on  the  14th ;  at  Baker's  Creek,  and  at  Champion  Hill, 
on  the  16th,  and  at  Black  River  Bridge,  on  the  17th  ;  finally 
driving  the  enemy  within  his  works  at  Yicksburg.  The  fact 
that  Johnston  was  in  his  rear,  with  the  prospect  of  his  being 
heavily  reenforced,  led  Grant  to  make  two  attempts  to  carry 
the  place  by  storm,  on  the  19th  and  on  the  22d,  but  without 
success.  The  siege  lasted  until  the  4th  of  July,  when  Pem- 
berton capitulated,  and  Grant  occupied  the  place,  taking  over 
30,000  prisoners.  This  great  victory  opened  the  Mississippi  to 
the  Gulf,  cutting  off  the  territory  west  of  that  river  from  ita 
connection  with  the  remainder  of  the  "Confederacy  " — a  prac- 
tical loss  of  nearly  one-half  of  the  Rebel  territory. 

In  Eastern  Virginia,  Hooker  fought  Lee  at  Chancellorsville, 
on  the  2d  and  3d  of  May,  and  was  repulsed,  with  heavy  losses 
on  both  sides,, retiring  across  the  Rappahannock.  Among  the 
Rebel  losses  was  that  of  Stonewall  Jackson,  mortally  wounded. 
Lee  now  assumed  the  offensive,  advancing  through  Maryland 
into  Pennsylvania.  Gen.  Hooker,  moving  on  an  interior  line, 
covered  Washington  and  kept  his  forces  in  an  attitude  to  strike 
the  enemy  with  effect.  During  these  movements,  Hooker  was 
superseded,  on  the  28th  of  June,  by  Gen.  George  G.  Meade. 
The  battle  of  Gettysburg  was  fought  on  the  1st,  2d  and  3d 
days  of  July,  in  which  an  important  victory  was  gained  over 
Lee,  who  retreated  in  all  possible  haste  over  the  Potomac,  glad 
to  escape  with  the  remnant  of  his  army.  He  had  lost  heavily, 
in  killed,  wounded  and  prisoners,  the  latter  numbering  13,621. 
38 


450  LIFE   OF   ABRAHAM    LINCOLN. 

He  left  28,178  small  arms  on  the  field.  His  entire  loss  during 
this  invasion,  including  numerous  desertions,  must  have  ap- 
proached, if  it  did  not  equal,  40,000  men.  Meade's  total  losses, 
in  killed,  wounded  and  missing,  numbered  23,186. 

The  operations  before  Charleston  and  other  points,  attended 
with  less  success  than  was  for  a  time  promised,  were  not  with- 
out favorable  results. 

Another  disaster  to  the  Rebel  cause,  and  one  of  the  greatest 
magnitude,  followed  the  advance  of  Gen.  Rosecrans  on  Chatta- 
nooga, and  of  Gen.  Burnside  upon  Knoxville,  in  the  latter  part 
of  August.  With  no  very  severe  fighting,  Burnside  occupied 
Knoxville  on  the  1st  of  September,  and  Cumberland  Gap  on 
the  9th.  Rosecrans,  after  the  unfavorable  battle  of  Chicka- 
mauga,  took  possession  of  Chattanooga,  on  the  21st  of  Septem- 
ber. East  Tennessee  was  thus  completely  in  our  possession, 
and  a  line  of  communication  of  the  greatest  importance  to  the 
enemy  was  finally  severed.  On  the  19th  of  October,  Gen. 
Grant,  by  the  President's  order,  assumed  command  of  the 
united  armies  of  the  Tennessee,  the  Cumberland,  and  the  Ohio. 
The  subsequent  victories  of  Lookout  Mountain  and  Missionary 
Ridge,  on  the  24th  and  25th  of  November,  and  the  decisive 
defeat  of  Longstreet  in  his  bold  attempt  to  recover  Knoxville, 
made  this  great  acquisition  entirely  secure.  The  way  was  thus 
prepared  for  assuming  the  offensive,  by  an  advance  into  the 
heart  of  Georgia. 

The  rebellion  seemed  now  to  have  been  brought  to  the  verge 
of  final  overthrow. 


LIFE  OP  ABRAHAM   LINCOLN.  451 


CHAPTER  XI. 

The  Popular  Voice  in  1863.— First  Session  of  the  Thirty-eighth  Con- 
gress.—Amnesty  Proclamation.— Message.— Orders,  Letters  and 
Addresses. — Popular  Sentiment  in  1864. — Appointment  of  Lieu- 
tenant General  Grant. — Opening  of  the  Military  Campaigns  of 
1864.— Conclusion. 

THE  great  popular  reaction  in  favor  of  the  Administration 
of  Mr.  Lincoln,  indicated  by  the  spring  elections,  was  fully 
apparent  in  the  verdict  of  every  loyal  State  in  the  autumn  of 
1863.  In  Ohio,  the  so-called  Democratic  organization,  which 
had  prevailed  in  that  State  by  a  small  majority  in  October, 
1862,  put  forward,  as  its  candidate  for  Governor,  a  notorious 
Peace  Democrat  named  Vallandigham,  whose  action,  while  a 
member  of  the  previous  Congress,  had  been  in  strict  conform- 
ity with  his  avowed  motto :  "  Not  a  man  or  a  dollar  for  the 
war."  To  such  an  extent  was  his  support  of  the  rebellion  car- 
ried, by  haranguing  his  followers,  and  all  who  would  hear  him, 
against  the  Government  and  the  measures  it  had  adopted  in  the 
prosecution  of  the  war,  that  he  had  been  arrested  by  Gen. 
Burnside,  then  in  command  of  the  Department  including  Ohio, 
tried  for  his  treasonable  practices,  convicted,  and  ordered  to  be 
sent  through  the  lines  of  our  army  to  his  friends  at  the  South. 
The  proceedings  under  which  he  was  thus  condemned,  were 
fully  reviewed  before  the  United  States  District  Court  at  Cin- 
cinnati, on  a  motion  for  a  writ  of  habeas  corpus,  and  sustained 
by  the  decision  of  Judge  Leavitt.  It  may  be  added  that  this 
action  was  further  confirmed,  several  months  later,  on  a  hear- 
ing before  the  Supreme  Court  of  the  United  States.  Hon. 
John  Brough,  the  Administration  candidate,  was  chosen  Gov- 
ernor of  Ohio,  after  a  protracted  and  earnest  canvass,  by  more 
than  100,000  majority  over  Valkndigham. 

In  Pennsylvania,  the  Republican  candidate  for  Governor, 
Hon.  Andrew  G.  Curtin,  was  reelected  by  a  large  majority  over 


452  WFE   OP   ABRAHAM   LINCOLN. 

Judge  Woodward,  another  Peace  Democrat.  In  New  York, 
where  the  most  violent  opposition  was  made  to  "conscription," 
resulting  in  a  barbarous  riot  in  New  York  city,  the  Administra- 
tion ticket  for  sundry  State  officers  had  a  very  large  majority 
over  the  candidates  of  the  Seymour  and  Wood  Democracy. 
Notwithstanding  the  utmost  efforts  of  the  Opposition,  and  the 
fact  that  hundreds  of  thousands  of  soldiers  had  been  lately 
called  into  the  field,  every  other  loyal  State,  except  New  Jersey, 
(in  which  there  were  Administration  gains,)  gave  similarly  de- 
cided majorities  for  the  supporters  of  Mr.  Lincoln. 

During  the  earlier,  as  well  as  the  later,  elections  of  this  year, 
a  prominent  issue  before  the  people  was  the  course  of  the  Ad- 
ministration in  regard  to  Emancipation.  Both  at  home  and 
abroad,  this  policy  had  proved  an  element  of  great  strength  in 
shaping  public  opinion  favorably  to  Mr.  Lincoln.  It  identified 
his  Administration,  from  the  day  this  great  step  was  taken, 
with  not  only  a  most  effective  means  for  suppressing  the  rebel- 
lion, but  also  with  a  measure  in  accordance  with  the  high 
behests  of  justice,  and  the  clearest  interests  of  civilization  and 
humanity.  At  the  beginning  of  the  year,  the  President  re- 
ceived a  gratifying  testimonial  of  sympathy  and  confidence 
from  the  workingmen  of  Manchester,  in  England,  and  of  their 
warm  appreciation,  especially,  of  his  action  in  issuing  the  Pro- 
clamation of  Emancipation.  To  this  address,  Mr.  Lincoln  sent 
the  following  reply : 

EXECUTIVE  MANSION, 
WASHINGTON,  January  19,  1863. 

To  THE  WORKINGMEN  OF  MANCHESTER  :  I  have  the  honor 
to  acknowledge  the  receipt  of  the  address  and  resolutions  which 
you  sent  me  on  the  eve  of  the  new  year. 

When  I  came,  on  the  4th  of  March,  1861,  through  a  free 
and  constitutional  election,  to  preside  in  the  Government  of  the 
United  States,  the  country  was  found  at  the  verge  of  civil  war. 
Whatever  might  have  been  the  cause,  or  whosesoever  the  fault, 
one  duty,  paramount  to  all  others,  was  before  me,  namely,  to 
maintain  and  preserve  at  once  the  Constitution  and  the  integ- 
rity of  the  Federal  Republic.  A  conscientious  purpose  to  per- 
form this  duty  is  the  key  to  all  the  measures  of  administration 
which  have  been,  and  to  all  which  will  hereafter  be  pursued. 
Under  our  frame  of  government  and  my  official  oath.  I  could 


LIFE   OP  ABRAHAM   LINCOLN.  453 

not  depart  from  this  purpose  if  I  would.  It  is  not  always  in 
the  power  of  governments  to  enlarge  or  restrict  the  scope  of 
moral  results  which  follow  the  policies  that  they  may  deem  it 
necessary,  for  the  public  safety,  from  time  to  time  to  adopt. 

I  have  understood  well  that  the  duty  of  self-preservation 
rests  solely  with  the  American  people.  But  I  have,  at  the 
same  time,  been  aware  that  the  favor  or  disfavor  of  foreign  na- 
tions might  have  a  material  influence  in  enlarging  and  prolong- 
ing the  struggle  with  disloyal  men  in  which  the  country  is 
engaged.  A  fair  examination  of  history  has  seemed  to  author- 
ize a  belief  that  the  past  action  and  influences  of  the  United 
States  were  generally  regarded  as  having  been  beneficial  toward 
mankind.  I  have,  therefore,  reckoned  upon  the  forbearance  of 
nations.  Circumstances — to  some  of  which  you  kindly  allude — 
induced  me  especially  to  expect  that,  if  justice  and  good  faith 
should  be  practiced  by  the  United  States,  they  would  encounter 
no  hostile  influence  on  the  part  of  Great  Britain.  It  is  now  a 
pleasnnt  duty  to  acknowledge  the  demonstration  you  have  given 
of  your  desire  that  a  spirit  of  peace  and  amity  toward  this 
country  may  prevail  in  the  councils  of  your  Queen,  who  is  re- 
spected and  esteemed  in  your  own  country  only  more  than  she 
is  by  the  kindred  nation  which  has  its  home  on  this  side  of  the 
Atlantic. 

I  know,  and  deeply  deplore,  the  sufferings  which  the  work- 
ingmen  at  Manchester,  and  in  all  Europe,  are  called  to  endure 
in  this  crisis.  It  has  been  often  and  studiously  represented 
that  the  attempt  to  overthrow  this  Government,  which  was 
built  upon  the  foundation  of  human  rights,  and  to  substitute 
for  it  one  which  should  rest  exclusively  on  the  basis  of  human 
slavery,  was  likely  to  obtain  the  favor  of  Europe.  Through 
the  action  of  our  disloyal  citizens,  the  workingmen  of  Europe 
have  been  subjected  to  severe  trial,  for  the  purpose  of  forcing 
their  sanction  to  that  attempt.  Under  these  circumstances,  I 
can  not  but  regard  your  decisive  utterances  upon  the  question 
as  an  instance  of  sublime  Christian  heroism,  which  has  not  been 
surpassed  in  any  age  or  in  any  country.  It  is  indeed  an  ener- 
getic and  reinspiring  assurance  of  the  inherent  power  of  truth, 
and  of  the  ultimate  and  universal  triumph  of  justice,  human- 
ity, and  freedom.  I  do  not  doubt  that  the  sentiments  you  have 
expressed  will  be  sustained  by  your  great  nation ;  and,  on  the 
other  hand,  I  have  no  hesitation  in  assuring  you  that  they  will 
excite  admiration,  esteem,  and  the  most  reciprocal  feelings  of 
friendship  among  the  American  people.  I  hail  this  inter- 
change of  sentiment,  therefore,  as  an  augury  that,  whatever 
else  may  happen,  whatever  misfortune  may  befall  your  country 
or  my  own,  the  peace  and  friendship  which  now  exist  between 


454  LIFE   OP   ABRAHAM   LINCOLN. 

the  two  nations  will  be,  as  it  shall  be  my  desire  to  make  them, 
perpetual.  ABRAHAM  LINCOLN. 

Later  in  the  season,  Mr.  Lincoln  was  invited  to  revisit  hia 
home  in  Springfield,  on  the  occasion  of  a  mass  meeting  of  the 
people  of  Illinois,  who  were  unconditionally  for  the  Union,  to 
be  held  at  that  place.  The  letter  addressed  by  him,  in  reply, 
to  the  chairman  of  the  Committee  of  Invitation,  an  esteemed 
personal  friend,  was  published  at  the  time,  and  received  with 
satisfaction  by  the  loyal  people  of  the  country.  The  subject 
of  Emancipation  is  again  treated  therein,  after  discussing  the 
possible  terms  of  peace,  and  the  issue  brought  directly  home 
to  the  minds  of  the  people,  with  pointed  force  and  sunlike 
clearness.  The  letter  is  in  these  words : 

EXECUTIVE  MANSION,  WASHINGTON, 

August  26,  1863. 

MY  DEAR  SIR  :  Your  letter  inviting  me  to  attend  a  mass 
meeting  of  unconditional  Union  men,  to  be  held  at  the  capital 
of  Illinois  on  the  3d  day  of  September,  has  been  received.  It 
would  be  very  agreeable  to  me  thus  to  meet  my  old  friends  at 
my  own  home ;  but  I  can  not  just  now  be  absent  from  this  city 
so  long  as  a  visit  there  would  require. 

The  meeting  is  to  be  of  all  those  who  maintain  uncondi- 
tional devotion  to  the  Union  ;  and  I  am  sure  that  my  old  politi- 
cal friends  will  thank  me  for  tendering,  as  I  do,  the  nation's 
gratitude  to  those  other  noble  men  whom  no  partisan  malice  or 
partisan  hope  can  make  false  to  the  nation's  life.  There  are 
those  who  are  dissatisfied  with  me.  To  such  I  would  say: 
You  desire  peace,  and  you  blame  me  that  we  do  not  have  it. 
But  how  can  we  attain  it  ?  There  are  but  three  conceivable 
ways  :  First,  to  suppress  the  rebellion  by  force  of  arms.  This 
I  am  trying  to  do.  Are  you  for  it  ?  If  you  are,  so  far  we  are 
agreed.  If  you  are  not  for  it,  a  second  way  is  to  give  up  the 
Union.  I  am  against  this.  If  you  are,  you  should  say  so, 
plainly.  If  you  are  not  for  force,  nor  yet  for  dissolution,  there 
only  remains  some  imaginable  compromise. 

I  do  not  believe  that  any  compromise  embracing  the  mainte- 
nance of  the  Union  is  now  possible.  All  that  I  learn  leads  to 
a  directly  opposite  belief.  The  strength  of  the  rebellion  is  its 
military — its  army.  That  army  dominates  all  the  country  and 
all  the  people  within  its  range.  Any  offer  of  any  terms  made 
by  any  man  or  men  within  that  range  in  opposition  to  that 


LIFE   OP   ABRAHAM   LINCOLN.  455 

army,  is  simply  nothing  for  the  present,  because  such  man  or 
men  have  no  power  whatever  to  enforce  their  side  of  a  compro- 
mise, if  one  were  made  with  them.  To  illustrate :  Suppose 
refugees  from  the  South  and  peace  men  of  the  North  get 
together  in  convention,  and  frame  and  proclaim  a  compromise 
embracing  the  restoration  of  the  Union.  In  what  way  can 
that  compromise  be  used  to  keep  Gen.  Lee's  army  out  of  Penn- 
sylvania? Gen.  Meade's  army  can  keep  Lee's  army  out  of 
Pennsylvania,  and  I  think  can  ultimately  drive  it  out  of 
existence.  But  no  paper  compromise  to  which  the  controllers 
of  Gen.  Lee's  army  are  not  agreed,  can  at  all  affect  that  army, 
la  an  effort  at  such  compromise  we  would  waste  time,  which  the 
enemy  would  improve  to  our  disadvantage,  and  that  would  be 
all.  A  compromise,  to  be  effective,  must  be  made  either  with 
those  who  control  the  Rebel  army,  or  with  the  people,  first  libe- 
rated from  the  domination  of  that  army  by  the  success  of  our 
army.  Now,  allow  me  to  assure  you  that  no  word  or  intimation 
from  the  Rebel  army,  or  from  any  of  the  men  controlling  it,  in 
relation  to  any  peace  compromise,  has  ever  come  to  my  knowl- 
edge or  belief.  All  charges  and  intimations  to  the  contrary 
are  deceptive  and  groundless.  And  I  promise  you  that  if  any 
such  proposition  shall  hereafter  come,  it  shall  not  be  rejected 
and  kept  secret  from  you.  I  freely  acknowledge  myself  to  be 
the  servant  of  the  people,  according  to  the  bond  of  service,  the 
United  States  Constitution  ;  and  that,  as  such,  I  am  responsible 
to  them. 

But,  to  be  plain.  You  are  dissatisfied  with  me  about  the 
negro.  Quite  likely  there  is  a  difference  of  opinion  between 
you  and  myself  upon  that  subject.  I  certainly  wi.vh  that  all 
men  could  be  free,  while  you,  I  suppose,  do  not.  Yet  I  have 
neither  adopted  nor  proposed  any  measure  which  is  not  con- 
sistent with  even  your  view,  provided  you  are  for  the  Union.  I 
suggested  compensated  emancipation,  to  which  you  replied  that 
you  wished  not  to  be  taxed  to  buy  negroes.  But  I  have  not 
asked  you  to  be  taxed  to  buy  negroes,  except  in  such  way  as  to 
save  you  from  greater  taxation,  to  save  the  Union  exclusively 
by  other  means. 

You  dislike  the  Emancipation  Proclamation,  and  perhaps 
would  have  it  retracted.  You  say  it  is  unconstitutional.  I 
think  differently.  I  think  that  the  Constitution  invests  its 
Commander-in-chief  with  the  law  of  war  in  the  time  of  war. 
The  most  that  can  be  said,  if  so  much,  is,  that  the  slaves  are 
property.  Is  there,  has  there  ever  been,  any  question  that  by 
the  law  of  war,  property,  both  of  enemies  and  friends,  may  be 
taken  when  needed?  And  is  it  not  needed  whenever  taking  it 
helps  us  or  hurts  the  enemy  ?  Armies,  the  world  over,  destroy 


456  LIFE   OP   ABRAHAM    LINCOLN. 

enemies'  property  when  they  can  not  use  it;  and  even  destroy 
their  own  to  keep  it  from  the  enemy.  Civilized  belligerents 
do  all  in  their  power  to  help  themselves  or  hurt  the  enemy, 
except  a  few  things  regarded  as  barbarous  or  cruel.  Among 
the  exceptions  are  the  massacre  of  vanquished  foes  and  non- 
combatants,  male  and  female.  But  the  proclamation,  as  law,  is 
valid  or  is  not  valid.  If  it  is  not  valid,  it  needs  no  retraction. 
If  it  is  valid,  it  can  not  be  retracted,  afty  more  than  the  dead 
can  be  brought  to  life.  Some  of  you  profess  to  think  that  its 
retraction  would  operate  favorably  for  the  Union.  Why  better 
after  the  retraction  than  before  the  issue  ?  There  was  more 
than  a  year  and  a  half  of  trial  to  suppress  the  rebellion  before 
the  proclamation  was  issued,  the  last  one  hundred  days  of 
which  passed  under  an  explicit  notice,  that  it  was  coming  unless 
averted  by  those  in  revolt  returning  to  their  allegiance.  The 
war  has  certainly  progressed  as  favorably  for  us  since  the  issue 
of  the  proclamation  as  before.  I  know  as  fully  as  one  can  know 
the  opinions  of  others,  that  some  of  the  commanders  of  our 
armies  in  the  field,  who  have  given  us  our  most  important  vic- 
tories, believe  the  emancipation  policy  and  the  aid  of  colored 
troops  constitute  the  heaviest  blows  vet  dealt  to  the  rebellion, 
and  that  at  least  one  of  those  important  successes  could  not 
have  been  achieved  when  it  was  but  for  the  aid  of  black  sol- 
diers. Among  the  commanders  holding  these  views  are  some 
who  have  never  had  any  affinity  with  what  is  called  abolition- 
ism, or  with  "  republican  party  politics,"  but  who  hold  them 
purely  as  military  opinions.  I  submit  their  opinions  as  being 
entitled  to  some  weight  against  the  objections  often  urged  that 
emancipation  and  arming  the  blacks  are  unwise  as  military 
measures,  and  were  not  adopted  as  such  in  good  faith. 

You  say  that  you  will  not  fight  to  free  negroes.  Some  of 
them  seem  to  be  willing  to  fight  for  you — but  no  matter.  Fight 
you,  then,  exclusively  to  save  the  Union.  I  issued  the  procla- 
mation on  purpose  to  aid  you  in  saving  the  Union.  Whenever 
you  shall  have  conquered  all  resistance  to  the  Union,  if  I  shall 
urge  you  to  continue  fighting,  it  will  be  an  apt  time  then  for 
you  to  declare  that  you  will  not  fight  to  free  negroes.  I 
thought  that,  in  your  struggle  for  the  Union,  to  whatever  ex- 
tent the  negroes  should  cease  helping  the  enemy,  to  that  extent 
it  weakened  the  enemy  in  his  resistance  to  you.  Do  you  think 
differently  ?  I  thought  that  whatever  negroes  can  be  got  to  do 
as  soldiers,  leaves  just  so  much  less  for  white  soldiers  to  do  in 
saving  the  Union.  Does  it  appear  otherwise  to  you?  But 
negroes,  like  other  people,  act  upon  motives.  Why  should 
they  do  any  thing  for  us  if  we  will  do  nothing  for  them  ?  If 
they  stake  their  lives  for  us,  they  must  be  prompted  by  the 


LIFE   OF    ABRAHAM    LINCOLN..  457 

strongest   motive,   even   the   promise   of   freedom.     And  the 
promise,  being  made,  must  be  kept. 

The  signs  look  better.  The  Father  of  Waters  again  goes 
unvexed  to  the  sea,  Thanks  to  the  great  North-west  for  it. 
Nor  yet  wholly  to  them.  Three  hundred  miles  up  they  met 
New  England,  Empire,  Keystone,  and  Jersey,' hewing  their 
way  right  and  left.  The  sunny  South,  too,  in  more  colors  than 
oue,  also  lent  a  hand.  On  the  spot  their  part  of  the  history 
was  jotted  down  in  black  and  white.  The  job  was  a  great 
National  one,  and  let  none  be  banned  who  bore  an  honorable 
part  in  it;  and,  while  those  who  have  cleared  the  great  river 
may  well  be  proud,  even  that  is  not  all.  It  is  hard  to  say  that 
any  thing  has  been  more  bravely  and  better  done  than  at  An- 
tietam,  Murfreesboro,  Gettysburg,  and  on  many  fields  of  less 
note.  Nor  must  Uncle  Sam's  web-feet  be  forgotten.  At  all 
the  waters'  margins  they  have  been  present :  not  only  on  the 
deep  sea,  the  broad  bay  arid  the  rapid  river,  but  also  up  the 
narrow,  muddy  bayou ;  and  wherever  the  ground  was  a  little 
damp,  they  have  been  and  made  their  tracks.  Thanks  to  all. 
For  the  great  Republic — for  the  principles  by  which  it  lives 
and  keeps  alive — for  man's  vast  future — thanks  to  all.  Peace 
does  not  appear  so  far  distant  as  it  did.  I  hope  it  will  come 
soon,  and  come  to  stay :  and  so  come  as  to  be  worth  the  keep- 
ing in  all  future  time.  It  will  then  have  been  proved  that 
among  freemen  there  can  be  no  successful  appeal  from  the 
ballot  to  the  bullet,  and  that  they  who  take  such  appeal  are  sure 
to  lose  their  case  and  pay  the  cost.  And  then  there  will  be 
some  black  men  who  can  remember  that,  with  silent  tongue, 
and  clenched  teeth,  and  steady  eye,  and  well  poised  bayonet, 
they  have  helped  mankind  on  to  this  great  consummation ; 
while  I  fear  that  there  will  be  some  white  men  unable  to  forget 
that,  with  malignant  heart  and  deceitful  speech,  they  have 
striven  to  hinder  it. 

Still,  let  us  not  be  over-sanguine  of  a  speedy  final  triumph. 
Let  us  be  quite  sober.  Let  us  diligently  apply  the  means, 
never  doubting  that  a  just  God,  in  His  own  good  time,  will 
give  us  the  rightful  result. 

Yours,  very  truly,  A.  LINCOLN. 

JAMES  C.  CONKLING,  Esq. 

Mr.  Lincoln,  whose  gratitude  to  the  gallant  soldiers  who 
have  rallied  at  the  call  of  their  country,  and  whose  proud 
satisfaction  in  their  heroic  conduct  on  so  many  battle-fields, 
have  been  constantly  manifested,  was  unwilling  to  decline  the 
invitation  to  bo  present  on  the  solemn  occasion  of  consecrating 
39 


458  LIFE  OF  ABRAHAM  LINCOLN. 

a  National  Cemetery  at  Gettysburg,  for  the  fallen  in  the  san- 
guinary conflicts  at  that  place,  in  July,  1863.  No  truer  or 
tenderer  sympathy  than  his,  for  the  brave  dead  and  for  their 
surviving  friends,  ever  had  place  in  any  human  breast.  The 
elaborate  eloquence  of  our  most  accomplished  orator,  Edward 
Everett,  and  the  presence  of  an  innumerable  multitude  of 
people,  added  a  solemn  grandeur  to  the  ceremonies  of  the  day. 
But  no  fitter  or  more  touching  words  were  spoken  than  these 
of  Mr.  Lincoln : 

ADDRESS   AT   GETTYSBURG,    NOV.    19,    1863. 

Fourscore  and  seven  years  ago  our  fathers  brought  forth 
upon  this  continent  a  new  nation,  conceived  in  Liberty,  and 
dedicated  to  the  proposition  that  all  men  are  created  equal. 
Now  we  are  engaged  in  a  great  civil  war,  testing  whether  that 
nation,  or  any  nation  so  conceived  and  so  dedicated,  can  long 
endure.  We  are  met  on  a  great  battle-field  of  that  war.  We 
are  met  to  dedicate  a  portion  of  it  as  the  final  resting-place  of 
those  who  here  gave  their  lives  that  that  nation  might  live.  It 
is  altogether  fitting  and  proper  that  we  should  do  this. 

But,  in  a  larger  sense,  we  can  not  dedicate,  we  can  not  con- 
secrate, we  can  not  hallow  this  ground.  The  brave  men,  living 
and  dead,  who  struggled  here,  have  consecrated  it  far  above 
our  power  to  add  or  detract.  The  world  will  little  note,  nor 
long  remember,  what  we  say  here,  but  it  can  never  forget  what 
they  did  here.  It  is  for  us,  the  living,  rather,  to  be  dedicated 
here  to  the  unfinished  work  that  they  have  thus  far  so  nobly 
carried  on.  It  is  rather  for  us  to  be  here  dedicated  to  the  great 
task  remaining  before  us — that  from  these  honored  dead  we  take 
increased  devotion  to  the  cause  for  which  they  here  gave  the 
last  full  measure  of  devotion — that  we  here  highly  resolve  that 
the  dead  shall  not  have  died  in  vain — that  the  nation  shall, 
under  God,  have  a  new  birth  of  freedom,  and  that  the  Govern- 
ment of  the  people,  by  the  people,  and  for  the  people,  shall 
not  perish  from  the  earth. 

The  concluding  elections  for  the  Thirty-eighth  Congress  bit- 
terly disappointed  the  expectations  previously  entertained  by 
the  Opposition.  They  were  so  favorable  to  the  Administration 
as  to  insure  it  a  decided  majority  in  the  House  of  Kepreseuta- 
tives — a  result  which  had  not  happened  for  many  years  in  the 
choice  of  the  second  Congress  during  any  Presidential  term. 

On  the  assembling  of  the  Thirty-eighth  Congress,  on  the  7th 


LIFE   OP   ABRAHAM   LINCOLN.  459 

day  of  December,  1863,  the  Hon.  Schuyler  Colfax,  of  Indiana, 
(the  Administration  candidate,)  was  elected  Speaker  of  the 
House  of  Representatives,  on  the  first  ballot,  receiving  one 
hundred  and  one  votes,  against  eighty-one  for  all  others — a 
majority  of  twenty.  The  Opposition  votes  were  scattered  upon 
half  a  dozen  different  candidates.  The  Hon.  Edward  McPher- 
son,  of  Pennsylvania,  was  chosen  Clerk  of  the  House,  by  a 
vote  of  one  hundred  and  two  to  sixty-nine  for  Emerson  Eth- 
eridge,  whom  the  Republicans  had  chosen  to  that  position  in 
the  previous  House,  and  who  had  since  gone  over  to  the  Dem- 
ocratic side.  A  still  more  striking  indication  of  the  present 
tone  of  National  sentiment  was  perhaps  to  be  found  in  the  fact 
that  the  Rev.  William  Henry  Channing,  whose  extreme  views 
on  the  great  questions  of  the  day  are  well  known,  was  elected 
Chaplain  of  the  House,  the  principal  Opposition  vote  being  cast 
for  Bishop  Hopkins,  of  Vermont,  a  noted  apologist  for  slavery. 
After  the  decisive  advantages  gained  by  our  arms,  the  rebel- 
lion being  substantially  at  an  end  in  the  States  of  Louisiana, 
Tennessee  and  Arkansas,  and  movements  for  their  reorganiza- 
tion under  loyal  local  governments  already  under  consideration 
by  the  people  of  those  States,  some  indication  of  the  Presi- 
dent's policy  for  restoring  order  and  law,  in  the  territory  recon- 
quered from  armed  Rebels,  was  naturally  expected  by  the 
people.  Mr.  Lincoln,  as  the  meeting  of  Congress  approached, 
had  given  his  earnest  attention  to  this  difficult  subject — now 
become  one  of  the  highest  practical  moment.  By  an  act  ap- 
proved July  17, 1862,  Congress  had  provided : 

That  the  President  is  hereby  authorized,  at  any  time""  here- 
after, by  proclamation,  to  extend  to  persons  who  may  have  par- 
ticipated in  the  existing  rebellion  in  any  State  or  part  thereof, 
pardon  and  amnesty,  with  such  exceptions,  and  at  such  time, 
and  on  such  conditions,  as  he  may  deem  expedient  for  the  pub- 
lic welfare. 

In  the  judgment  of  Mr.  Lincoln,  the  fitting  time  had  now 
come  for  exercising  this  power.  Among  the  "  conditions " 
which  he  was  authorized  to  prescribe,  very  clearly,  good  faith 
and  consistency  required  hiiu  to  include  an  effective  one  for 
carrying  out  his  policy  of  Emancipation.  This  and  other  con- 


460  LIFE   OF   ABRAHAM   LINCOLN. 

eiderations  also  made  it  indispensable  that  he  should  indicate—* 
•without  inflexibly  prescribing,  as  he  did  not — an  acceptable 
mode  of  reorganizing  loyal  State  Governments.  The  result 
of  his  deliberations  was  set  forth  simultaneously  with  the 
publication  of  his  annual  message,  in  the  celebrated  paper 
following : 

A   PROCLAMATION. 

WHEREAS,  In  and  by  the  Constitution  of  the  United  States, 
it  is  provided  that  the  President  "  shall  have  power  to  grant 
reprieves  and  pardons  for  offenses  against  the  United  States, 
except  in  cases  of  impeachment;"  and  whereas,  a  rebellion  now 
exists  whereby  the  loyal  State  Governments  of  several  States 
have  for  a  long  time  been  subverted,  and  many  persons  have 
committed  and  are  now  guilty  of  treason  against  the  United 
States;  and  whereas,  with  reference  to  said  rebellion  and  treason, 
laws  have  been  enacted  by  Congress  declaring  forfeitures  and 
confiscation  of  property  and  liberation  of  slaves,  all  upon  terms 
and  conditions  therein  stated ;  and  also  declaring  that  the  Presi- 
dent was  thereby  authorized  at  any  time  thereafter,  by  procla- 
mation, to  extend  to  persons  who  may  have  participated  in  the 
existing  rebellion,  in  any  State  or  part  thereof,  pardon  and 
amnesty,  with  such  exceptions  and  at  such  times  and  on  such 
conditions  as  he  may  deem  expedient  for  the  public  welfare  ; 
and  whereas,  the  Congressional  declaration  for  limited  and  con- 
ditional pardon  accords  with  well-established  judicial  exposi- 
tion of  the  pardoning  power ;  and  whereas,  with  reference  to 
said  rebellion,  the  President  of  the  United  States  has  issued 
several  proclamations,  with  provisions  in  regard  to  the  libera- 
tion of  slaves  ;  and  whereas,  it  is  now  desired  by  some  persons 
heretofore  engaged  in  said  rebellion,  to  resume  their  allegiance 
to  the  United  States,  and  to  reinaugura^e  loyal  State  Govern- 
ments within  and  for  their  respective  States ;  therefore, 

I,  Abraham  Lincoln.  President  of  the  United  States,  do 
proclaim,  declare,  and  make  known  to  all  persons  who  have, 
directly  or  by  implication,  participated  in  the  existing  rebel- 
lion, except  as  hereinafter  excepted,  that  a  full  pardon  is  hereby 
granted  to  them  and  each  of  them,  with  restoration  of  all  rights 
of  property,  except  as  to  slaves,  and  in  property  cases  where 
rights  of  third  parties  shall  have  intervened,  and  upon  the  con- 
dition that  every  such  person  shall  take  and  subscribe  an  oath, 
and  thenceforward  keep  and  maintain  said  oath  inviolate ;  and 
which  oath  shall  be  registered  for  permanent  preservation,  and 
shall  Ix;  of  the  tenor  and  effect  following,  to-wit : 

•'I, ,  do  solemnly  swear,  iu  presence  of  Almighty 


LIFE   OP  ABRAHAM   LINCOLN.  461 

God,  that  I  will  henceforth  faithfully  support,  protect  and  de- 
fend the  Constitution  of  the  United  States,  and  the  Union  of 
the  States  thereunder ;  and  that  I  will,  in  like  manner,  abide  by 
and  faithfully  support  all  acts  of  Congress  passed  during  the  ex- 
isting rebellion  with  reference  to  slaves,  so  long  and  so  far  as  not 
repealed,  modified,  or  held  void  by  Congress,  or  by  decision  of 
the  Supreme  Court ;  and  that  I  will,  in  like  manner,  abide  by 
and  faithfully  support  all  proclamations  of  the  President  made 
during  the  existing  rebellion  having  reference  to  slaves,  so  long 
and  so  far  as  not  modified  or  declared  void  by  decision  of  the 
Supreme  Court.  So  help  me  God." 

The  persons  excepted  from  the  benefits  of  the  foregoing  pro- 
visions are  all  who  are,  or  shall  have  been,  civil  or  diplomatic 
omcers  or  agents  of  the  so-called  Confederate  Government ;  all 
who  have  left  judicial  stations  under  the  United  States  to  aid 
the  rebellion  ;  all  who  are,  or  shall  have  been,  military  or  naval 
omcers  of  the  said  so-called  Confederate  Government,  above 
the  rank  of  «olo'nel  in  the  army,  or  of  lieutenant  in  the  navy; 
all  who  left  seats  in  the  United  States  Congress  to  aid  the  re- 
bellion ;  all  who  resigned  commissions  in  the  Army  or  Navy  of 
the  United  States,  and  afterward  aided  the  rebellion  ;  and  all 
who  have  engaged  in  any  way  in  treating  colored  persons,  or 
white  persons  in  charge  of  such,  otherwise  than  lawfully  as 
prisoners  of  war,  and  which  persons  may  have  been  found  in 
the  United  States  service  as  soldiers,  seamen,  or  in  any  other 
capacity. 

And  I  do  further  proclaim,  declare,  and  make  known,  that 
whenever,  in  any  of  the  States  of  Arkansas,  Texas,  Louisiana, 
Mississippi,  Tennessee,  Alabama,  Georgia,  Florida,  South  Car- 
olina, and  North  Carolina,  a  number  of  persons,  not  less  than 
one-tenth  in  number  of  the  votes  cast  in  such  State  at  the 
Presidential  election  of  the  year  of  our  Lord  1860,  each  hav- 
ing taken  the  oath  aforesaid,  and  not  having  since  violated  it, 
and  being  a  qualified  voter  by  the  election  law  of  the  State 
existing  immediately  before  the  so-called  act  of  secession,  and 
excluding  all  others,  shall  re-establish  a  State  Government 
which  shall  be  republican,  and  in  nowise  contravening  said 
oath,  such  shall  be  recognized  as  the  true  Government  of  the 
State,  and  the  State  shall  receive  thereunder  the  benefits  of  the 
constitutional  provision  which  declares  that  "  the  United  States 
shall  guarantee  to  every  State  in  this  Union  a  republican  form 
of  government,  and*  shall  protect  each  of  them  against  inva- 
sion ;  and  on  application  of  the  Legislature,  or  the  Executive, 
(when  the  Legislature  can  not  be  convened,)  against  domestic 
violence." 

And  I  do  further  proclaim,  declare,  and  make  known  that 


462  LIFE   OP   ABRAHAM    LINCOLN. 

any  provision  which,  may  be  adopted  by  such  State  Govern- 
ment in  relation  to  the  freed  people  of  such  State,  which  shall 
recognize  and  declare  their  permanent  freedom,  provide  for 
their  education,  and  which  may  yet  be  consistent,  as  a  tempo- 
rary arrangement,  with  their  present  condition  as  a  laboring, 
landless,  and  homeless  class,  will  not  be  objected  to  by  the  Na- 
tional Executive.  And  it  is  suggested  as  not  improper,  that, 
in  constructing  a  loyal  State  Government  in  any  State,  the 
name  of  the  State,  the  boundary,  the  subdivisions,  the  Consti- 
tution, and  the  general  code  of  laws,  as  before  the  rebellion,  be 
maintained,  subject  only  to  the  modifications  made  necessary 
by  the  conditions  hereinbefore  stated,  and  such  others,  if  any, 
not  contravening^  said  conditions,  and  which  may  be  deemed 
expedient  by  those  framing  the  new  State  Government. 

To  avoid  misunderstanding,  it  may  be  proper  to  say  that 
this  proclamation,  so  far  as  it  relates  to  State  Governments,  has 
no  reference  to  States  wherein  loyal  State  Governments  have  all 
the  while  been  maintained.  And  for  the  same  reason,  it  may 
be  proper  to  further  say  that  whether  members  sent  to  Con- 
gress from  any  State  shall  be  admitted  to  seats  constitutionally, 
rests  exclusively  with  the  respective  Houses,  and  not  to  any 
extent  with  the  Executive.  And  still  further,  that  this  procla- 
mation is  intended  to  present  the  people  of  the  States  wherein 
the  National  authority  has  been  suspended,  and  loyal  State 
Governments  have  been  subverted,  a  mode  in  and  by  which  the 
National  authority  and  loyal  State  Governments  may  be  re-es- 
tablished within  said  States,  or  in  any  of  them ;  and,  while  the 
mode  presented  is  the  best  the  Executive  can  suggest,  with  his 
present  impressions,  it  must  not  be  understood  that  no  other 
possible  mode  would  be  acceptable. 

Given  under  my  hand  at  the  city  of  Washington, 

PL  s  1    the  8th  day  of  I)ecember>  A-  D-  1863>  and  of  the 
L  '    '-I    Independence  of  the  United  States  of  America  the 

eighty-eighth.  ABRAHAM  LINCOLN. 

Mr.  Lincoln's  Annual  Message  was  sent  in  to  Congress  on 
the  9th  day  of  December.  This  document  —  omitting  only 
portions  of  less  abiding  interest — is  as  follows  : 

MR.  LINCOLN'S  ANNUAL  MESSAGE. 

FELLOW-CITIZENS  OP  THE  SENATE  AND  HOUSE  OP  REP- 
RESENTATIVES :  Another  year  of  health  and  sufficiently  abun- 
dant harvests,  has  passed.  For  these,  and  especially  for  the 
improved  condition  of  our  National  affairs,  our  renewed  and 
profoundest  gratitude  to  God  is  due. 


LIFE   OP   ABRAHAM   LINCOLN.  463 

We  remain  in  peace  and  friendship  with  foreign  powers^ 

The  efforts  of  disloyal  citizens  of  the  United  States  to  involve 
us  in  foreign  wars,  to  aid  an  inexcusable  insurrection,  have 
been  unavailing.  Her  Britannic  Majesty's  Government,  as  was 
justly  expected,  have  exercisfed  their  authority  to  prevent  the 
departure  of  new  hostile  expeditions  from  British  ports.  The 
Emperor  of  France  has,  by  a  like  proceeding,  promptly  vindi- 
cated the  neutrality  which  he  proclaimed  at  the  beginning  of 
the  contest.  Questions  of  great  intricacy  and  importance  have 
arisen,  out  of  the  blockade  and  other  belligerent  operations, 
between  the  Government  and  several  of  the  maritime  powers,  but 
they  have  been  discussed,  and,  Ss  far  as  was  possible,  accommo- 
dated in  a  spirit  of  frankness,  justice,  and  mutual  good  will.  It 
is  especially  gratifying  that  our  prize  courts,  by  the  impartiality 
of  their  adjudications,  have  commanded  the  respect  and  confi- 
dence of  maritime  powers. 

The  supplemental  treaty  between  the  United  States  and 
Great  Britain  for  the  suppression  of  the  African  slave-trade, 
made  on  the  17th  day  of  February  last,  has  been  duly  ratified, 
and  carried  into  execution.  It  is  believed  that,  so  far  as 
American  ports  and  American  citizens  are  concerned,  that 
inhuman  and  odious  traffic  has  been  brought  to  an  end.  .  .  . 

Incidents  occurring  in  the  progress  of  our  civil  war  have 
forced  upon  my  attention  the  uncertain  state  of  international 
questions  touching  the  rights  of  foreigners  in  this  country  and 
of  United  States  citizens  abroad.  In  regard  to  some  Govern- 
ments, these  rights  are  at  least  partially  defined  by  treaties.  In 
no  instance,  however,  is  it  'expressly  stipulated  that,  in  the 
event  of  civil  war,  a  foreigner  residing  in  this  country,  within 
the  lines  of  the  insurgents,  is  to  be  exempted  from  the  rule 
which  classes  him  as  a  belligerent,  in  whose  behalf  the  Govern- 
ment of  his  country  can  not  expect  any  privileges  or  immuni- 
ties distinct  from  that  character.  I  regret  to  say,  however, 
that  such  claims  have  been  put  forward,  and,  in  some  instances, 
in  behalf  of  foreigners  who  have  lived  in  the  United  States  the 
greater  part  of  their  lives. 

There  is  reason  to  believe  that  many  persons  born  in  for- 
eign countries,  who  have  declared  their  intention  to  become 
citizens,  or  who  have  been  fully  naturalized,  have  evaded  the 
military  duty  required  of  them  by  denying  the  fact,  and  thereby 
throwing  upon  the  Government  the  burden  of  proof.  It  has 
been  found  difficult  or  impracticable  to  obtain  this  proof,  from 
the  want  of  guides  to  the  proper'sources  of  information.  These 
might  be  supplied  by  requiring  clerks  of  courts,  where  decla- 
rations of  intention  may  be  made  or  naturalizations  effected,  to 
send,  periodically,  lists  of  the  names  of  the  persons  naturalized, 


464  LIFE  OF  ABRAHAM  LINCOLN. 

or  declaring  their  intention  to  become  citizens,  to  the  Secre- 
tary of  the  Interior,  in  whose  Department  those  names  might 
be  arranged  and  printed  for  general  information. 

There  is  also  reason  to  believe  that  foreigners  frequently 
become  citizens  of  the  United  States  for  the  sole  purpose  of 
evading  duties  imposed  by  the  laws  of  their  native  countries,  to 
•which,  on  becoming  naturalized  here,  they  at  once  repair,  and, 
though  never  returning  to  the  United  States,  they  still  claim 
the  interposition  of  this  Government  as  citizens.  Many  alter- 
cations and  great  prejudices  have  heretofore  arisen  out  of  this 
abuse.  It  is,  therefore,  submitted  to  your  serious  considera- 
tion. It  might  be  advisable  to  fix  a  limit,  beyond  which  no 
citizen  of  the  United  States  residing  abroad  may  claim  the 
interposition  of  his  Goyernment. 

The  right  of  suffrage  has  often  been  assumed  and  exercised 
by  aliens,  under  pretenses  of  naturalization,  which  they  have 
disavowed  when  drafted  into  the  militarv  service.  I  submit 
the  expediency  of  such  an  amendment  of  the  law  as  will  make 
the  fact  of  voting  an  estoppel  against  any  plea  of  exemption 
from  military  service,  or  other  civil  obligation,  on  the  ground 
of  alienage 

The  condition  of  the  several  organized  Territories  is  gene- 
rally satisfactory,  although  Indian  disturbances  in  New  Mexico 
have  not  been  entirely  suppressed.  The  mineral  resources  of 
Colorado,  Nevada,  Idaho,  New  Mexico,  and  Arizona  are  proving 
far  richer  than  has  been  heretofore  understood.  I  lay  before 
you  a  communication  on  this  subject  from  the  Governor  of 
New  Mexico.  I  again  submit  to  your  consideration  the  expe- 
diency of  establishing  a  system  for  the  encouragement  of  immi- 
gration. Although  this  source  of  National  wealth  and  strength 
is  again  flowing  with  greater  freedom  than  for  several  years 
before  the  insurrection  occurred,  there  is  still  a  great  deficiency 
of  laborers  in  every  field  of  industry,  especially  in  agriculture 
and  in  our  mines,  as  well  of  iron  and  coal  as  of  the  precious 
metals.  While  the  demand  for  labor  is  thus  increased  here, 
tens  of  thousands  of  persons,  destitute  of  remunerative  occu- 
pation, are  thronging  our  foreign  consulates,  and  offering  to 
emigrate  to  the  United  States  if  essential,  but  very  cheap, 
assistance  can  be  afforded  them.  It  is  easy  to  see  that,  under 
the  sharp  discipline  of  civil  war,  the  nation  is  beginning  a  new 
life.  This  noble  effort  demands  the  aid,  and  ought  to  receive 
the  attention  and  support,  of  the  Government. 

Injuries,  unforeseen  by  the  Government  and  unintended,  may, 
in  some  cases,  have  been  inflicted  on  the  subjects  or  citizens 
of  foreign  countries,  both  at  sea  and  on  land,  by  persons  in  the 
service  of  the  United  States.  As  this  Government  expects 


LIFE  OP  ABRAHAM  LINCOLN.  465 

redress  from  other  Powers  when  similar  injuries  are  inflicted 
by  persons  in  their  service  upon  citizens  of  the  United  States, 
we  must  be  prepared  to  do  justice  to  foreigners.  If  the  exist- 
ing judicial  tribunals  are  inadequate  to  this  purpose,  a  special 
court  may  be  authorized,  with  power  to  hear  and  decide  such 
claims  of  the  character  referred  to  as  may  have  arisen  under 
treaties  and  the  public  law.  Conventions  for  adjusting  the 
claims  by  joint  commission  have  been  proposed  to  some  Gov- 
ernments, but  no  definite  answer  to  the  proposition  has  ye't 
been  received  from  any. 

In  the  course  of  the  session,  I  shall  probably  have  occasion 
to  request  you  to  provide  indemnification  to  claimants  where 
decrees  of  restitution  have  been  rendered  and  damages  awarded 
by  admiralty  courts,  and  in  other  cases,  where  this  Government 
may  be  acknowledged  to  be  liable  in  principle,  and  where  the 
amount  of  that  liability  has  been  ascertained  by  an  informal 
arbitration. 

The  proper  officers  of  the  Treasury  have  deemed  themselves 
required,  by  the  law  of  the  United  States  upon  the  subject,  to 
demand  a  tax  upon  the  incomes  of  foreign  consuls  in  this 
country.  While  such  demand  may  not,  in  strictness,  be  in 
dei'Ogation  of  public  law,  or  perhaps  of  any  existing  treaty 
between  the  United  States  and  a  foreign  country,  the  expe- 
diency of  so  far  modifying  the  act  as  to  exempt  from  tax  the 
income  of  such  consuls  as  are  not  citizens  of  the  United  States, 
derived  from  the  emoluments  of  their  office,  or  from  property 
not  situated  in  the  United  States,  is  submitted  to  your  serious 
consideration.  I  make  this  suggestion  upon  the  ground  that 
a  comity  which  ought  to  be  reciprocated  exempts  our  consuls, 
in  all  other  countries,  from  taxation  to  the  extent  thus  indi- 
cated. The  United  States,  I  think,  ought  not  to  be  exception- 
ably  illiberal  to  international  trade  and  commerce. 

The  operations  of  the  Treasury  during  the  last  year  have 
been  successfully  conducted.  The  enactment  by  Congress  of  a 
National  Banking  Law  has  proved  a  valuable  support  of  the 
public  credit ;  and  the  general  legislation  in  relation  to  loans 
has  fully  answered  the  expectations  of  its  favorers.  Some 
amendments  may  be  required  to  perfect  existing  laws  ;  but  no 
change  in  their  principles  or  general  scope  is  believed  to  be 
needed. 

Since  these  measures  have  been  in  operation,  all  demands  on 
the  Treasury,  including  the  pay  of  the  Army  and  Navy,  have 
been  promptly  met  and  fully  satisfied.  No  considerable  body 
of  troops,  it  is  believed,  were  ever  more  amply  provided,  and 
more  liberally  and  punctually  paid ;  and  it  may  be  added  that 


466  LIFE   OF   ABRAHAM    LINCOLN. 

by  no  people  were  the  burdens  incident  to  a  great  war  ever 
more  cheerfully  borne. 

The  receipts  during  the  year  from  all  sources,  including 
loans  and  the  balance  in  the  Treasury  at  its  commencement, 
were  $901,125,674  86,  and  the  aggregate  disbursements, 
$895,796,630  05,  leaving  a  balance  on  the  1st  of  July,  1863, 
of  §5,329,044  21.  Of  the  receipts  there  were  derived  from  cus- 
toms $69,059,642  40  ;  from  internal  revenue,  $37,640,787  95 ; 
from  direct  tax,  $1,485,103  61;  from  lands,  $167,617  17; 
from  miscellaneous  sources,  $3,046,615  35  ;  and  from  loans, 
$776,682,361  57 ;  making  the  aggregate,  $901,125,674  86. 
Of  the  disbursements,  there  were,  for  the  civil  service, 
$23,253,922  08;  for  pensions  and  Indians,  $4,216,520  79; 
for  interest  on  public  debt,  $24,729,846  51;  for  the  War 
Department,  $599,298,600  83;  for  the  Navy  Department, 
863,211,105  27 ;  for  payment  of  funded  and  temporary  debt, 
$181,086,635  07;  making  the  aggregate,  $895,796,630  65; 
'and  leaving  the  balance  of  $5,329,044  21.  But  the  pay- 
ment of  funded  and  temporary  debt,  having  been  made  from 
moneys  borrowed  during  the  year,  must  be  regarded  as 
merely  nominal  payments,  and  the  moneys  borrowed  to 
make  them  as  merely  nominal  receipts ;  and  their  amount, 
$181,086,635  07,  should  therefore  be  deducted  both  from 
receipts  and  disbursements.  This  being  done,  there  remain, 
as  actual  receipts,  $720,039,039  79;  and  the  actual  dis- 
bursements, $714,709,995  58,  leaving  the  balance  as  already 
stated. 

The  actual  receipts  and  disbursements  for  the  first  quarter, 
and  the  estimated  receipts  and  disbursements  for  the  remaining 
three  quarters,  of  the  current  fiscal  year  1864,  will  be  shown 
in  detail  by  the  report  of  the  Secretary  of  the  Treasury,  to 
which  I  invite  your  attention.  It  is  sufficient  to  say  here  that 
it  is  not  believed  that  actual  results  will  exhibit  a  state  of  the 
finances  less  favorable  to  the  country  than  the  estimates  of  that 
officer  heretofore  submitted ;  while  it  is  confidently  expected 
that  at  the  close  of  the  year  both  disbursements  and  debt  will 
be  found  very  considerably  less  than  has  been  anticipated. 

The  report  of  the  Secretary  of  War  is  a  document  of  great 
interest.  It  consists  of — 

1.  The  military  operations  of  the  year,  detailed  in  the  report 
of  the  General-in-Chief. 

2.  The  organization  of  colored  persons  into  the  war  service. 

3.  The  exchange  of  prisoners,  fully  set  forth  in  the  letter 
of  General  Hitchcock. 

4.  The  operations  under  the  act  for  enrolling  and  calling  out 


LIFE   OF   ABRAHAM    LINCOLN.  467 

the  National  forces,  detailed  in  the  report  of  the  Provost  Mar- 
shal General. 

5.  The  organization  of  the  invalid  corps ;  and 

6.  The  operation   of  the  several  departments  of  the  Quar- 
termaster General,  Commissary  General,  Paymaster  General, 
Chief  of  Engineers,  Chief  of  Ordnance,  and  Surgeon  General. 

It  has  appeared  impossible  to  make  a  valuable  summary  of 
this  report,  except  such  as  would  be  too  extended  for  this 
place,  and  hence  I  content  myself  by  asking  your  careful  atten- 
tion to  the  report  itself. 

The  duties  devolving  on  the  naval  branch  of  the  service  dur- 
ing the  year,  and  throughout  the  whole  of  this  unhappy  con- 
test, have  been  discharged  with  fidelity  and  eminent  success. 
The  extensive  blockade  has  been  constantly  increasing  in 
efficiency,  and  the  Navy  has  expanded ;  yet  on  so  long  a  line 
it  has  so  far  been  impossible  to  entirely  suppress  illicit  trade. 
From  returns  received  at  the  Navy  Department,  it  appears  that 
more  than  one  thousand  vessels  have  been  captured  since  the 
blockade  was  instituted,  and  that  the  value  of  prizes  already 
sent  in  for  adjudication,  amounts  to  over  thirteen  million 
dollars. 

The  naval  force  of  the  United  States  consists,  at  this  time, 
of  five  hundred  and  eighty-eight  vessels,  completed  and  in  the 
course  of  completion,  and  of  these  seventy-five  are  iron-clad  or 
armored  steamers.  The  events  of  the  war  give  an  increased 
interest  and  importance  to  the  Navy,  which  will  probably  ex- 
tend beyond  the  war  itself. 

The  armored  vessels  in  our  Navy,  completed  and  in  service, 
or  which  are  under  contract  and  approaching  completion,  are 
believed  to  exceed  in  number  those  of  any  other  Power.  But 
while  these  may  be  relied  upon  for  harbor  defense  and  coast 
service,  others,  of  greater  strength  and  capacity,  will  be  neces- 
sary for  cruising  purposes,  and  to  maintain  our  rightful  posi- 
tion on  the  ocean. 

The  change  that  has  taken  place  in  naval  vessels  and  naval 
warfare  since  the  introduction  of  steam  as  a  motive  power  for 
ships-of-war,  demands  either  a  corresponding  change  in  some 
of  our  existing  navy -yards,  or  the  establishment  of  new  ones, 
for  the  construction  and  necessary  repair  of  modern  naval 
vessels.  No  inconsiderable  embarrassment,  delay,  and  public 
injury  have  been  experienced  from  the  want  of  such  Govern- 
mental establishments.  The  necessity  of  such  a  navy-yard,  so 
furnished,  at  some  suitable  place  upon  the  Atlantic  seaboard, 
has,  on  repeated  occasions,  been  brought  to  the  attention  of  Con- 
gress by  the  Navy  Department,  and  is  again  presented  in  the 
report  of  the  Secretary  which  accompanies  this  communication. 


468  LIFE   OP   ABRAHAM   LINCOLN. 

I  think  it  my  duty  to  invite  your  special  attention  to  this  sub- 
ject, and  also  to  that  of  establishing  a  yard  and  depot  for  naval 
purposes  upon  one  of  the  Western  rivers.  A  naval  force  has 
been  created  on  those  interior  waters,  and  under  many  disad- 
vantages, within  little  more  than  two  years,  exceeding  in  num- 
bers the  whole  naval  force  of  the  country  at  the  commencement 
of  the  present  Administration.  Satisfactory  and  important  as 
have  been  the  performances  of  the  heroic  men  of  the  Navy  at 
this  interesting  period,  they  are  scarcely  more  wonderful 
than  the  success  of  our  mechanics  and  artisans  in  the  produc- 
tion of  war  vessels,  which  has  created  a  new  form  of  naval 
power. 

Our  country  has  advantages  superior  to  any  other  nation  in 
our  resources  of  iron  and  timber,  with  inexhaustible  quantities 
of  fuel  in  the  immediate  vicinity  of  both,  and  all  available  and 
in  close  proximity  to  navigable  waters.  Without  the  advantage 
of  public  works,  the  resources  of  the  nation  have  been  devel- 
oped, and  its  power  displayed,  in  the  construction  of  a  navy  of 
such  magnitude,  which  has,  at  the  very  period  of  its  creation, 
rendered  signal  service  to  the  Union. 

The  increase  of  the  number  of  seamen  in  the  public  service, 
from  seven  thousand  five  hundred  men  in  the  spring  of  1861, 
to  about  thirty-four  thousand  at  the  present  time,  has  been 
accomplished  without  special  legislation  or  extraordinary  boun- 
ties to  promote  that  increase;  It  has  been  found,  however,  that 
the  operation  of  the  draft,  with  the  high  bounties  paid  for 
army  recruits,  is  beginning  to  affect  injuriously  the  naval 
service,  and  will,  if  not  corrected,  be  likely  to  impair  its  effi- 
ciency, by  detaching  seamen  from  their  proper  vocation  and 
inducing  them  to  enter  the  army.  I  therefore  respectfully 
suggest  that  Congress  might  aid  both  the  army  and  naval 
services  by  a  definite  provision  on  this  subject,  which  would  at 
the  same  time  be  equitable  to  the  communities  more  especially 
interested. 

I  commend  to  your  consideration  the  suggestions  of  the 
Secretary  of  the  Navy  in  regard  to  the  policy  of  foster- 
ing and  training  seamen,  and  also  the  education  of  officers 
and  engineers  for  the  naval  service.  The  Naval  Academy  is 
rendering  signal  service  in  preparing  midshipmen  for  the  highly 
responsible  duties  which  in  after-life  they  will  be  required  to 
perform.  In  order  that  the  country  should  not  be  deprived  of 
the  proper  quota  of  educated  officers  for  which  legal  provision 
has  been  made  at  the  Naval  School,  the  vacancies  caused  by 
the  neglect  or  omission  to  make  nominations  from  the  States 
in  insurrection  have  been  filled  by  the  Secretary  of  the  Navy. 
Tlie  school  is  now  more  fuH  and  complete  than  at  any  former 


LIFE   OF   ABRAHAM   LINCOLN.  469 

period,  and  in  every  respect  entitled  to  the  favorable  conside- 
ration of  Congress. 

During  the  past  fiscal  year  the  financial  condition  of  the 
Post  Office  Department  has  been  one  of  increasing  prosperity, 
and  I  am  gratified  in  being  able  to  state  that  the  actual  postal 
revenue  has  nearly  equaled  the  entire  expenditures;  the  latter 
amounting  to  811,314,206  84,  and  the  former  to  811,163,789  59, 
leaving  a  deficiency  of  but  8150,417  25.  In  1860,  the  year 
immediately  preceding  the  rebellion,  the  deficiency  amounted 
to  §5,656,705  49,  the  postal  receipts  of  that  year  being 
$2,645,722  19  less  than  those  of  1863.  The  decrease  since 
1860  in  the  annual  amount  of  transportation  has  been  only 
about  25  per  cent.,  but  the  annual  expenditure  on  account  of 
the  same  has  been  reduced  35  per  cent.  It  is  manifest,  there- 
fore, that  the  Post  Office  Department  may  become  self-sustain- 
ing in  a  few  years,  even  with  the  restoration  of  the  whole 
service 

The  quantity  of  land  disposed  of  during  the  last  and  the 
first  quarter  of  the  present  fiscal  years  was  3,841,549  acres,  of 
which  161.911  acres  were  sold  for  cash,  1,456,514  acres  were 
taken  up  under  the  homestead  law.  and  the  residue  disposed  of 
under  laws  granting  lands  for  military  bounties,  for  railroad  and 
other  purposes.  It  also  appears  that  the  sale  of  the  public 
lands  is  largely  on  the  increase. 

It  has  long  been  a  cherished  opinion  of  some  of  our  wisest 
statesmen  that  the  people  of  the  United  States  had  a  higher 
and  more  enduring  interest  in  the  early  settlement  and  sub- 
stantial cultivation  of  the  public  lands  than  in  the  amount  of 
direct  revenue  to  be  derived  from  the  sale  of  them.  This  opin- 
ion has  had  a  controlling  influence  in  shaping  legislation  upon 
the  subject  of  our  National  domain.  I  may  cite,  as  evidence 
of  this,  the  liberal  measures  adopted  in  reference  to  actual  set- 
tlers ;  the  grants  to  the  States  of  the  overflowed  lands  within 
their  limits,  in  order  to  their  being  reclaimed  and  rendered  fit  for 
cultivation ;  the  grants  to  railway  companies  of  alternate  sec- 
tions of  land  upon  the  contemplated  lines  of  their  roads,  which, 
when  completed,  will  so  largely  multiply  the  facilities  for  reach- 
ing our  distant  possessions.  This  policy  has  received  its  most 
signal  and  beneficent  illustration  in  the  recent  enactment  grant- 
ing homesteads  to  actual  settlers.  Since  the  1st  day  of  Jan- 
uary last,  the  before-mentioned  quantity  of  1,456,514  acres  of 
land  have  been  taken  up  under  its  provisions.  This  fact  and 
the  amount  of  sales  furnish  gratifying  evidence  of  increasing 
settlement  upon  the  public  lands,  notwithstanding  the  great 
struggle  in  which  the  energies  of  the  Nation  ha.ve  been  en- 


470  LIFE    OF    ABRAHAM    LINCOLN. 

gaged,  and  which  has  required  so  large  a  withdrawal  of  our 
citizens  from  their  accustomed  pursuits 

The  measures  provided  at  your  last  session  for  the  removal 
of  certain  Indian  tribes,  have  been  carried  into  effect.  Sundry 
treaties  have  been  negotiated  which  will,  in  due  time,  be  sub- 
mitted for  the  constitutional  action  of  the  Senate.  They  con- 
tain stipulations  for  extinguishing  the  possessory  rights  of  the 
Indians  to  large  and  valuable  tracts  of  lands.  It  is  hoped  that 
the  effect  of  these  treaties  will  result  in  the  establishment  of 
permanent  friendly  relations  with  such  of  these  tribes  as  have 
been  brought  into  frequent  and  bloody  collision  with  our  out- 
lying settlements  and  emigrants.  Sound  policy  and  our  imper- 
ative duty  to  these  wards  of  the  Government  demand  our 
anxious  and  constant  attention  to  their  material  well-being,  to 
their  progress  in  the  arts  of  civilization,  and  above  all,  to  that 
moral  training  which,  under  the  blessing  of  Divine  Providence, 
will  confer  upon  them  the  elevated  and  sanctifying  influences, 
the  hopes  and  consolations  of  the  Christian  faith 

When  Congress  assembled  a  year  ago,  the  war  had  already 
lasted  nearly  twenty  months  ;  and  there  had  been  many  con- 
flicts on  both  land  .and  sea,  with  varying  results.  The  rebel- 
lion had  been  pressed  back  into  reduced  limits ;  yet  the  tone 
of  public  feeling  and  opinion,  at  home  and  abroad,  was  not  sat- 
isfactory. With  other  signs,  the  popular  elections,  then  just 
past,  indicated  uneasiness  among  ourselves,  while,  amid  much 
that  was  cold  and  menacing,  the  kindest  words  coming  from 
Europe  were  uttered  in  accents  of  pity  that  we  were  too  blind 
to  surrender  a  hopeless  cause.  Our  commerce  was  suffering 
greatly  by  a  few  armed  vessels  built  upon  and  furnished  from 
foreign  shores ;  and  we  were  threatened  with  such  additions 
from  the  same  quarter  as  would  sweep  our  trade  from  the  sea 
and  raise  our  blockade.  We  had  failed  to  elicit  from  European 
Governments  any  thing  hopeful  upon  this  subject.  The  pre- 
liminary Emancipation  Proclamation,  issued  in  September,  was 
running  its  assigned  period  to  the  beginning  of  the  new  year. 
A  month  later  the  final  proclamation  came,  including  the  an- 
nouncement that  colored  men  of  suitable  condition  would  be 
received  into  the  war  service.  The  policy  of  emancipation,  and 
of  employing  black  soldiers,  gave  to  the  future  a  new  aspect, 
about  which  hope  and  fear  and  doubt  contended  in  uncertain 
conflict.  According  to  our  political  system,  as  a  matter  of 
civil  administration,  the  General  Government  had  no  lawful 
power  to  effect  emancipation  in  any  State  ;  and  for  a  long  time 
it  had  been  hoped  that  the  rebellion  could  be  suppressed  with- 
out resorting  to  it  as  a  military  measure.  It  was  all  the  while 
deemed  possible  that  the  necessity  for  it  might  come,  arid  that, 


LIFE    OF   ABRAHAM    LINCOLN.  471 

if  it  should,  the  crisis  of  the  contest  would  then  be  presented. 
It  came,  and  as  was  anticipated,  it  was  followed  by  dark  and 
doubtful  days.  Eleven  months  having  now  passed,  we  are  per- 
mitted to  take  another  review.  The  Rebel  borders  are  pressed 
still  further  back,  and  by  the  complete  opening  of  the  Missis- 
sippi the  country  dominated  by  the  rebellion  is  divided  into 
distinct  parts,  with  no  practical  communication  between  them. 
Tennessee  and  Arkansas  have  been  substantially  cleared  of 
insurgent  control,  and  influential  citizens  in  each,  owners  of 
slaves  and  advocates  of  slavery  at  the  beginning  of  the  rebel- 
lion, now  declare  openly  for  emancipation  in  their  respective 
States.  Of  those  States  not  included  in  the  Emancipation  Proc- 
lamation, Maryland  and  Missouri,  neither  of  which,  three  years 
ago,  would  tolerate  any  restraint  upon  the  extension  of  slavery 
into  new  Territories,  only  dispute  now  as  to  the  best  mode  of 
removing  it  within  their  own  limits. 

Of  those  wfio  were  slaves  at  the  beginning  of  the  rebellion, 
full  one  hundred  thousand  are  now  in  the  United  States  mili- 
tary service,  about  one-half  of  which  number  actually  bear  arms 
in  the  ranks ;  thus  giving  the  double  advantage  of  taking  so 
much  labor  from  the  insurgent  cause,  and  supplying  the  places 
which  otherwise  must  be  filled  with  so  many  white  men.  So 
far  as  tested,  it  is  difficult  to  say  they  are  not  as  good  soldiers 
as  any.  No  servile  insurrection,  or  tendency  to  violence  or 
cruelty,  has  marked  the  measures  of  emancipation  and  arming 
the  blacks.  These  measures  have  been  much  discussed  in  for- 
eign countries,  and  contemporary  with  such  discussion  the  tone 
of  public  sentiment  there  is  much  improved.  At  home  the 
Bame  measures  have  been  fully  discussed,  supported,  criticised, 
and  denounced,  and  the  annual  elections  following  are  highly 
encouraging  to  those  whose  official  duty  it  is  to  bear  the  coun- 
try through  this  great  trial.  Thus  we  have  the  new  reckoning. 
The  crisis  which  threatened  to  divide  the  friends  of  the  Union 
is  past. 

Looking  now  to  the  present  and  future,  and  with  reference 
to  a  resumption  of  the  National  authority  within  the  States 
wherein  that  authority  has  been  suspended,  I  have  thought  fit 
to  issue  a  proclamation,  a  copy  of  which  is  herewith  trans- 
mitted. On  examination  of  this  proclamation  it  will  appear,  as 
is  believed,  that  nothing  is  attempted  beyond  what  is  amply 
justified  by  the  Constitution.  True,  the  form  of  an  oath  Is 
given,  but  no  man  is  coerced  to  take  it.  The  man  is  only 
promised  a  pardon  in  case  he  voluntarily  takes  the  oath.  The 
Constitution  authorizes  the  Executive  to  grant  or  withhold  the 
pardon  at  his  own  absolute  discretion  ;  and  this  includes  the 
ii^Ut'  : 


472  LIFE   OF   ABRAHAMS   LINCOLN. 

power  to  grant  on  terms,  as  is  fully  established  by  judicial  and 
other  authorities. 

It  is  also  proffered  that  if,  in  any  of  the  States  named,  a  State 
Government  shall  be,  in  the  mode  prescribed,  set  up,  such  Gov- 
ernment shall  be  recognized  and  guaranteed  by  the  United 
States,  and  that  under  it  the  State  shall,  on  the  constitutional 
conditions,  be  protected  against  invasion  and  domestic  violence. 
The  constitutional  obligation  of  the  United  States  to  guarantee 
to  every  State  in  the  Union  a  republican  form  of  government, 
and  to  protect  the  State,  in  the  cases  stated,  is  explicit  and  full. 
But  why  tender  the  benefits  of  this  provision  only  to  a  State 
Government  set  up  in  this  particular  way?  This  section  of 
the  Constitution  contemplates  a  case  wherein  the  clement 
•within  a  State  favorable  to  republican  government,  in  the  Union, 
may  be  too  feeble  for  an  opposite  and  hostile  element  external 
to  or  even  within  the  State  ;  and  such  are  precisely  the  cases 
with  which  we  are  now  dealing. 

An  attempt  to  guarantee  and  protect  a  revived  State  Govern- 
ment, constructed  in  whole,  or  in  preponderating  part,  from  the 
very  element  against  whose  hostility  and  violence  it  is  to  be 
protected,  is  simply  absurd.  There  must  be  a  test  by  which 
to  separate  the  opposing  element,  so  as  to  build  only  from  the 
Bound ;  and  that  test  is  a  sufficiently  liberal  one,  which  accepts 
as  sound  whoever  will  make  a  sworn  recantation  of  his  former 
unsoundness. 

But  if  it  be  proper  to  require,  as  a  test  of  admission  to  the 
political  body,  an  oath  of  allegiance  to  the  Constitution  of  the 
United  States,  and  to  the  Union  under  it,  why  also  to  the  laws 
and  proclamations  in  regard  to  slavery?  Those  laws  and  pro- 
clamations were  enacted  and  put  forth  for  the  purpose  of  aid- 
ing in  the  suppression  of  the  rebellion.  To  give  them  their 
fullest  effect,  there  had  to  be  a  pledge  for  their  maintenance. 
In  my  judgment  they  have  aided,  and  will  further  aid,  the 
cause  for  which  they  were  intended.  To  now  abandon  them 
would  be  not  only  to  relinquish  a  lever  of  power,  but  would 
also  be  a  cruel  and  an  astounding  breach  of  faith.  I  may  add 
at  this  point  that,  while  I  remain  in  my  present  position,  I  shall 
not  attempt  to  retract  or  modify  the  Emancipation  Proclama- 
tion ;  nor  shall  I  return  to  slavery  any  person  who  is  free  by 
the  terms  of  that  proclamation,  or  by  any  of  the  acts  of  Con- 
gress. For  these  and  other  reasons,  it  is  thought  best  that 
support  of  these  measures  shall  be  included  in  the  oath  ;  and 
it  is  believed  the  Executive  may  lawfully  claim  it  in  return  for 
pardon  and  restoration  of  forfeited  rights,  which  he  has  clear 
constitutional  power  to  withhold  altogether,  or  grant  upon  the  ' 
terms  which  he  shall  deem  wisest  for  the  public  interest.  It 


LIFE   OF   ABRAHAM   LINCOLN.  473 

should  be  observed,  also,  that  this  part  of  the  oath  is  subject  to 
the  modifying  and  abrogating  power  of  legislation  and_ supreme 
judicial  decision. 

The  proposed  acquiescence  of  the  National  Executive  in  any 
reasonable  temporary  State  arrangement  for  the  freed  people,  is 
made  with  the  view  of  possibly  modifying  the  confusion  and 
destitution  which  must,  at  best,  attend  all  classes  by  a  total 
revolution  of  labor  throughout  whole  States.  It  is  hoped  that 
the  already  deeply  afflicted  people  in  those  States  may  be  some- 
what more  ready  to  give  up  the  cause  of  their  affliction,  if,  to 
this  extent,  this  vital  matter  be  left  to  themselves ;  while  no 
power  of  the  National  Executive  to  prevent  an  abuse,  is  abridged 
by  the  proposition. 

The  suggestion  in  the  proclamation  as  to  maintaining  the 
political  framework  of  the  States  on  what  is  called  reconstruc- 
tion, is  made  in  the  hope  that  it  may  do  good  without  danger 
of  harm.  It  will  save  labor,  and  avoid  great  confusion. 

But  why  any  proclamation  now  upon  this  subject?  This 
question  is  beset  with  the  conflicting  views  that  the  step  might 
be  delayed  too  long  or  be  taken  too  soon.  In  some  States  the 
elements  for  resumption  seem  ready  for  action,  but  remain 
inactive,  apparently  for  want  of  a  rallying  point — a  plan  of 
action.  Why  shall  A  adopt  the  plan  of  B,  rather  than  B  that 
of  A?  And  if  A  and  B  should  agree,  how  can  they  know  but 
that  the  General  Government  here  will  reject  their  plan  ?  By 
the  proclamation  a  plan  is  presented  which  may  be  accepted  by 
them  as  a  rallying  point,  and  which  they  are  assured  in  advance 
will  not  be  rejected  here.  This  may  bring  them  to  act  sooner 
than  they  otherwise  would. 

The  objection  to  a  premature  presentation  of  a  plan  by  the 
National  Executive  consists  in  the  danger  of  committals  on 
points  which  could  be  more  safely  left  to 'further  developments. 
Care  has  been  taken  to  so  shape  the  document  as  to  avoid  em- 
barrassments from  this  source.  Saying  that,  on  certain  terms, 
certain  classes  will  be  pardoned,  with  rights  restored,  it  is  not 
said  that  other  classes  or  other  terms  will  never  be  included. 
Saying  that  reconstruction  will  be  accepted,  if  presented  in  a 
specified  way,  it  is  not  said  it  will  never  be  accepted  in  any 
other  way. 

The  movements,  by  State  action,  for  emancipation  in  several 
of  the  States,  not  included  in  the  Emancipation  Proclamation, 
are  matters  of  profound  gratulation.  And  while  I  do  not 
repeat  in  detail  what  I  have  heretofore  so  earnestly  urged  upon 
this  subject,  my  general  views  and  feelings  remain  unchanged ; 
and  I  trust  that  Congress  will  omit  no  fair  opportunity  of  aid- 
ing these  important  steps  to  a  great  consummation. 
40 


474  LIFE   OF   ABRAHAM    LINCOLN. 

In  the  midst  of  other  care?,  however  important,  we  must  not 
lose  sight  of  the  fact  that  the  war  power  is  still  our  main  reli- 
ance. 9o  that  power  alone  can  we  look,  yet  for  a  time,  to  give 
confidence  to  the  people  in  the  contested  regions  that  the  insur- 
gent power  will  not  again  overrun  them.  Until  that  confi- 
dence shalfbe  established,  little  can  be  done  any-where  for  what 
is  called  reconstruction.  Hence  our  chiefest  care  must  still  be 
directed  to  the  Army  and  Navy,  who  have  thus  far  borne  their 
harder  part  so  nobly  and  well.  And  it  may  be  esteemed  fortu- 
nate that  in  giving  the  greatest  efficiency  to  these  indispensable 
arms,  we  do  also  honorably  recognize  the  gallant  men,  from 
commander  to  sentinel,  who  compose  them,  and  to  whom,  more 
than  to  others,  the  world  must  stand  indebted  for  the  home  of 
freedom  disinthralled,  regenerated,  enlarged,  and  perpetuated. 

ABRAHAM  LINCOLN. 

DECEMBER  8,  1863. 

During  its  first  session,  the  President  found  in  this  Congress 
the  ready  cooperation  he  needed  in  all  measures  for  the  prose- 
cution of  the  war.  A  system  of  direct  taxation,  affording  a 
firm  basis  for  all  Government  securities,  and  insuring  against 
financial  disaster,  was  carefully  matured  and  passed.  The 
enactments  required  to  carry  out  the  policy  of  the  distinguished 
Secretary  of  the  Treasury,  and  to  sustain  his  earnest  efforts, 
hitherto  successful,  to  meet  all  the  pressing  demands  upon  the 
National  exchequer,  received  the  necessary  attention.  A  con- 
trolling desire  to  further  the  energetic  exertions  of  the  Gov- 
ernment in  preparing  for  the  grand  struggle  with  rebellion  in 
its  last  desperate  campaign,  as  hoped,  was  so  manifested  in  the 
action  of  both  Houses  as  to  inspire  the  country  with  confidence 
in  a  speedy  and  favorable  issue  of  the  war. 

The  improved  temper  of  the  House  of  Bepresentatives,  as 
compared  even  with  that  of  the  preceding  one,  was  seen  in  its 
severe  and  indignant  censure  of  the  Secessionist,  Harris,  of 
Maryland,  (whose  expulsion  was  voted  by  a  decided  majority 
of  the  members,  failing  of  the  requisite  two-thirds  only  by  the 
recusancy  of  Democrats  professedly  loyal,)  and  of  his  sympa- 
thizing coadjutor,  Alexander  Long,  of  Ohio,  both  declared 
"  unworthy  members  "  of  that  body.  It  will  be  borne  in  mind 
that  Vallandigham,  of  whom  Long  was  but  a  docile  disciple, 
habitually  belched  his  treasonable  sentiments  in  the  previous 


LIFE  OP  ABRAHAM   LINCOLN.  475 

House  without  official  rebuke  ;  and  that  traitors,  like  Burnett,  of 
Kentucky,  and  Reid,  of  Missouri,  retained  their  seats  therein 
through  the  extra  session,  going  directly  after  into  the  Rebel 
military  or  civil  service.  Toleration  to  treason  in  utterance 
was  now  no  longer  a  virtue. 

On  the  first  day  of  the  session,  Mr.  Washburne,  of  Illinois, 
offered  a  joint  resolution,  reviving  the  rank  of  Lieutenant 
General  in  the  army.  This  resolution  was  adopted  by  both 
Houses  in  the  last  days  of  February,  and  was  approved  by  the 
President.  All  eyes  were  now  turned  upon  Gen.  Ulysses  S. 
Grant,  the  hero  of  so  many  victories,  who  was  seen  to  be,  if  not 
the  most  earnest  and  the  most  unselfish,  at  least  the  most  suc- 
cessful, commander  in  a  war,  in  which  so  many  officers  had 
won  a  high  place  in  popular  regard,  as  the  fit  person  to  receive 
this  chief  honor,  with  its  immense  responsibilities.  The  Presi- 
dent immediately  nominated  Gen.  Grant  as  Lieutenant  Gene- 
ral, and  he  was  unanimously  confirmed,  on  the  2d  day  of 
March,  by  the  Senate.  Having  been  called  to  Washington 
without  delay,  he  received  his  commission  with  a  rare  modesty, 
and  at  once  proceeded  to  organize  a  grand  campaign,  embracing 
the  armies  of  the  East  and  the  West  in  a  combined  effort  for 
their  closing  work. 

In  intrusting  this  great  power  to  Lieut. -Gen.  Grant,  the 
direction  of  military  affairs  was  limited  by  no  hampering  con- 
ditions. The  entire  forces  of  the  country,  with  such  subordi- 
nates and  such  preparations  as  he  chose  to  ask,  were  freely 
placed  at  his  disposal. 

The  Lieutenant  General  had  not  only  heartily  supported  the 
Administration  in  its  endeavors  to  put  down,  by  vigorous 
attacks,  a  wantonly  wicked  insurrection,  but  he  had  emphati- 
cally expressed,  in  his  correspondence,  his  personal  approval 
of  the  President's  policy  of  emancipation  and  of  enrolling  col- 
ored soldiers  in  the  armies  of  the  Government. 

Earlier  movements  in  Florida  and  in  Louisiana,  already 
undertaken,  afforded  no  very  auspicious  opening  to  the  cam- 
paigning season  ;  Fort  Pillow  on  the  Mississippi  and  Plymouth 
in  North  Carolina  were  captured  by  the  Rebels,  followed  by 
massacres  unparalleled  in  barbarism  by  the  acts  of  any  profes- 


476  LIFE   OP   ABRAHAM   LINCOLN. 

sedly  civilized  people  since  the  darkest  ages ;  but  the  grand 
armies  of  Eastern  Tennessee  and  in  Virginia,  heavily  increased 
in  strength  by  new  levies  and  by  the  withdrawal  of  troops  from 
positions  in  which  their  action  could  not  be  effective  in  exe- 
cuting the  intended  advance  upon  the  great  central  points  of 
the  rebellion,  were  put  in  condition  for  striking  the  last  mortal 
blows  upon  a  tottering  conspiracy,  too  long  suffered  to  gather 
hope  from  the  delay  of  retribution  on  its  crimes. 

The  following  speech,  delivered  by  Mr.  Lincoln  on  the  18th 
of  April,  1864,  at  a  fair  held  in  Baltimore  for  the  benefit  of  the 
United  States  Sanitary  Commission,  is  particularly  suggestive, 
in  regard  to  the  date,  place,  and  occasion  of  its  delivery.  On 
his  way  to  Washington,  in  February,  1861,  he  passed  through 
the  city  of  Baltimore  incognito,  to  escape  from  a  plot  of  assas- 
sination, of  which  he  had  been  forewarned.  On  the  19th  of 
April,  in  the  same  year,  the  blood  of  loyal  soldiers,  on  march- 
ing to  protect  the  National  Capital,  had  flowed  in  the  streets 
of  that  city.  He  now  stood  before  an  immense  throng  in  the 
same  city,  on  the  anniversary  eve  of  the  assault  upon  those 
soldiers,  at  the  fair  in  aid  of  an  organization  for  the  benefit  of 
Union  soldiers  every-where.  He  spoke,  too,  of  slavery,  and 
was  loudly  cheered  when  he  referred  to  the  practically  accom- 
plished annihilation  of  that  institution  in  Maryland.  He  even 
took  this  opportunity — the  first  public  occasion  presented — to 
announce  his  determined  purpose  of  enforcing  retaliation  (long 
before  enjoined  on  the  army  by  special  orders)  for  the  crime, 
then  just  perpetrated,  of  massacreing  the  colored  garrison  of 
Fort  Pillow,  refusing  quarter. 

The  report  of  this  speech,  as  it  appeared  in  the  Baltimore 
journals  at  the  time,  is  here  given  : 

After  the  cheering  had  ended,  and  after,  with  great  exer- 
tions, order  had  been  secured — every  body  being  anxious  to  see 
the  President — he  said,  substantially: 

LADIES  AND  GENTLEMEN  :  Calling  it  to  mind  that  we  are  in 
Baltimore,  we  can  not  fail  to  note  that  the  world  moves.  [Ap- 
plause.] Looking  upon  the  many  people  I  see  assembled  here 
to  serve  as  they  best  may  the  soldiers  of  the  Union,  it  occurs 
to  me  that  three  years  ago  those  soldiers  could  not  pass  through 
Baltimore.  I  would  say.  blessings  upon  the  men  who  have 


LIFE  OF  ABRAHAM   LINCOLN.  477 

wrought  these  changes,  and  the  ladies  who  have  assisted  them. 
[Applause.]  This  change  which  has  taken  place  in  Baltimore, 
is  part  only  of  a  far  wider  change  that  is  taking  place  all  over 
the  country. 

When  the  war  commenced,  three  years  ago,  no  one  expected 
that  it  would  last  this  long,  and  no  one  supposed  that  the  in- 
stitution of  slavery  would  be  materially  affected  by  it.  But 
here  we  are.  The  war  is  not  yet  ended,  and  slavery  has  been 
very  materially  affected  or  interfered  with.  [Loud  applause.] 
So  true  is  it  that  man  proposes  and  God  disposes. 

The  world  is  in  want  of  a  good  definition  of  the  word  liberty. 
We  all  declare  ourselves  to  be  for  liberty,  but  we  do  not  all 
mean  the  same  thing.  Some  mean  that  a  man  can  do  as  he 
pleases  with  himself  and  his  property.  With  others,  it  means 
that  some  men  can  do  as  they  please  with  other  men  and  other 
men's  labor.  Each  of  these  things  are  called  liberty,  although 
they  are  entirely  different.  To  give  an  illustration :  A  shep- 
herd drives  the  wolf  from  the  throat  of  his  sheep  when  attacked 
by  him,  and  the  sheep,  of  course,  thanks  the  shepherd  for  the 
preservation  of  his  life  ;  but  the  wolf  denounces  him  as  despoil- 
ing the  sheep  of  his  liberty — especially  if  it  be  a  black  sheep. 
[Applause.] 

This  same  difference  of  opinion  prevails  among  some  of  the 
people  of  the  North.  But  the  people  of  Maryland  have  re- 
cently been  doing  something  to  properly  define  the  meaning  of 
the  word,  and  I  thank  them  from  the  bottom  of  my  heart  for 
what  they  have  done  and  are  doing.  [Applause.] 

It  is  not  very  becoming  for  a  President  to  make  a  speech  at 
great  length,  but  there  is  a  painful  rumor  afloat  in  the  country, 
in  reference  to  which  a  few  words  shall  be  said.  It  is  reported 
that  there  has  been  a  wanton  massacre  of  some  hundreds  of  col- 
ored soldiers  at  Fort  Pillow,  Tennessee,  during  a  recent  engage- 
ment there,  and  it  is  fit  to  explain  some  facts  in  relation  to 
the  affair.  It  is  said  by  some  persons  that  the  Government  is 
not,  in  this  matter,  doing  its  duty.  At  the  commencement  of 
the  war,  it  was  doubtful  whether  black  men  would  be  used  as 
soldiers  or  not.  The  matter  was  examined  into  very  carefully, 
and  after  mature  deliberation,  the  whole  matter  resting  as  it 
were  with  himself,  he,  in  his  judgment,  decided  that  they 
should.  [Applause.] 

He  was  responsible  for  the  act  to  the  American  people,  to  a 
Christian  nation,  to  the  future  historian,  and,  above  all,  to  his 
God,  to  whom  he  would  have,  one  day,  to  render  an  account  of 
his  stewardship.  He  would  now  say  that  in  his  opinion  the 
black  soldier  should  have  the  same  protection  as  the  white  sol- 
dier, and  he  would  have  it.  [Applause.]  It  was  an  error  to 


478  LIFE   OF   ABRAHAM   LINCOLN. 

say  that  the  Government  was  not  acting  in  the  matter.  The 
Government  has  no  direct  evidence  to  confirm  the  reports  in 
existence  relative  to  this  massacre,  but  he  himself  believed  the 
facts  in  relation  to  it  to  be  as  stated.  When  the  Government 
does  know  the  facts  from  official  sources,  and  they  prove  to 
substantiate  the  reports,  retribution  will  be  surely  given. 
[Applause.] 

A  month  earlier,  Mr.  Lincoln  had  made  the  following  happy 
response  to  a  call  of  the  assembled  multitude  at  a  fair,  for  sim- 
ilar objects,  held  in  Washington  : 

LADIES  AND  GENTLEMEN  :  I  appear,  to  say  but  a  word. 
This  extraordinary  war  in  which  we  are  engaged  falls  heavily 
upon  all  classes  of  people,  but  the  most  heavily  upon  the  sol- 
dier. For  it  has  been  said,  all  that  a  man  hath  will  he  give 
for  his  life ;  and,  while  all  contribute  of  their  substance,  the 
soldier  puts  his  life  at  stake,  and  often  yields  it  up  in  his  coun- 
try's cause.  The  highest  merit,  then,  is  due  to  the  soldier. 

In  this  extraordinary  war,  extraordinary  developments  have 
manifested  themselves,  such  as  have  not  been  seen  in  former 
wars  ;  and  among  these  manifestations  nothing  has  been  more 
remarkable  than  these  fairs  for  the  relief  of  suffering  soldiers 
and  their  families.  And  the  chief  agents  in  these  fairs  are  the 
women  of  America.  I  am  not  accustomed  to  the  use  of  the 
language  of  eulogy ;  I  have  never  studied  the  art  of  paying 
compliments  to  women ;  but  I  must  say  that,  if  all  that  has 
been  said  by  orators  and  poets,  since  the  creation  of  the  world, 
in  praise  of  women,  were  applied  to  the  women  of  America,  it 
would  not  do  them  justice  for  their  conduct  during  this  war. 
I  will  close  by  saying,  God  bless  the  women  of  America  1 
[Great  applause.] 

The  spring  elections  of  1864,  in  New  Hampshire,  Connect- 
icut and  Rhode  Island,  showed  still  more  decidedly  than  those 
of  the  previous  year,  that  the  Administration  had  become 
strong  in  the  confidence  and  affection  of  the  people.  That  this 
gratifying  result  had  a  direct  relation  to  Mr.  Lincoln  in  per- 
son, is  seen  in  the  fact  that  the  Administration  party  in  each 
of  those  States,  had  committed  itself,  without  dissent,  in  favor 
of  his  reelection,  making  this  a  distinct  issue  of  the  canvass. 
In  twelve  other  States,  nearly  at  the  same  time,  the  popular 
voice,  as  declared  through  State  Conventions  or  Legislatures, 
demanded,  with  like  unanimity  and  enthusiasm,  that  Mr.  Lin- 


LIFE   OF   ABRAHAM    LINCOLN.  479 

coin  should  continue  in  the  Presidency  for  another  term.  A 
similar  current  of  opinion  was  seen  to  exist  in  every  other 
loyal  State.  Since  the  celebrated  "  era  of  good  feeling,"  in 
the  days  of  President  Monroe,  this  manifestation  of  popular 
sentiment  has  had  no  parallel.  Abroad,  too,  no  less  than  at 
home,  the  true  friends  of  our  Government  have  almost  univer- 
sally looked  upon  the  reelection  of  Mr.  Lincoln,  under  the 
present  circumstances  of  the  country,  as  the  manifest  interest 
and  duty  of  the  American  people. 

The  policy  of  Mr.  Lincoln's  Administration  has  been  fully 
set  forth  in  his  owu  words.  No  dissembling,  no  insincerity, 
gives  the  least  false  tinge  to  any  of  his  public  papers  or  ad- 
dresses. This  outspoken,  frank,  confiding  way  of  his,  has  given 
him  a  hold  upon  the  popular  heart,  and  upon  the  love  of  all 
true  men,  such  as  few  statesmen  have  ever  had.  "  Honesty"  is 
the  word  which  has  been  commonly  used  in  speaking  of  this 
trait — coupled  with  a  sterling  integrity  that  excludes  all  selfish 
and  sinister  ends ;  yet  it  is  something  more,  as  the  Golden  Rule 
has  a  wider  scope  than  simple  justice.  He  not  only  really  be- 
lieves in  the  right  and  the  true  as  infinitely  preferable  to  the 
wrong  and  the  false,  both  in  means  and  in  end,  but  he  is  also 
sure  that  the  people  have  the  same  pure  faith,  and  will  judge 
him  with  that  degree  of  candor  which  he  uses  in  unfolding  to 
them  his  purposes  and  his  thoughts.  The  spirit  of  that  Diplo- 
macy which  conceals,  and  feigns,  and  doubles,  and  deceives, 
never  for  a  moment  darkened  his  mind. 

Of  necessity,  the  questions  relating  to  slavery  and  the  Afri- 
can element  of  our  population,  have  occupied  the  foremost 
ground  during  all  this  great  struggle,  in  which  Mr.  Lincoln  has 
been  called  to  lead  the  organized  action  of  the  nation.  His 
whole  policy  on  this  general  subject,  and  a  concise  history  of 
his  action  and  of  the  processes  of  his  mind  thereon,  are  set 
forth,  with  admirable  frankness  and  precision,  in  the  following 
letter  to  a  gentleman  in  Kentucky: 

EXECUTIVE  MANSION,     ") 
WASHINGTON,  April  4,  1864.  j 

A.  G.  HODGES,  Esq.,  Frankfort,  Ky.— My  Dear  Sir:  You 
ask  me  to  put  in  writing  the  substance  of  what  I  verbally  said, 


480  LIFE  OP  ABRAHAM  LINCOLN. 

the  other  day,  in  your  presence,  to  Gov.  Bramlette  and  Senator 
Dixon.  It  was  about  as  follows : 

I  am  naturally  anti-slavery.  If  slavery  is  not  wrong,  noth- 
ing is  wrong.  I  can  not  remember  when  I  did  not  so  think 
and  feel.  And  yet,  I  have  never  understood  that  the  Presi- 
dency conferred  upon  me  an  unrestricted  right  to  act  officially 
upon  this  judgment  and  feeling.  It  was  in  the  oath  I  took, 
that  I  would,  to  the  best  of  my  ability,  preserve,  protect,  and 
defend  the  Constitution  of  the  United  States.  I  could  not  take 
the  office  without  taking  the  oath.  Nor  was  it  my  view,  that  I 
might  take  an  oath  to  get  power,  and  break  the  oath  in  using 
the  power.  I  understood,  too,  that,  in  ordinary  civil  adminis- 
tration, this  oath  even  forbade  me  to  practically  indulge  my 
primary,  abstract  judgment,  on  the  moral  question  of  slavery. 
I  had  publicly  declared  this  many  times,  and  in  many  ways. 
And  I  aver  that,  to  this  day,  I  have  done  no  official  act  in  mere 
deference  to  my  abstract  judgment  and  feeling  on  slavery. 

I  did  understand,  however,  that  my  oath  to  preserve  the 
Constitution  to  the  best  of  my  ability,  imposed  upon  me  the 
duty  of  preserving,  by  every  indispensable  means,  that  Gov- 
ernment— that  Nation — of  which  that  Constitution  was  the 
organic  law.  Was  it  possible  to  lose  the  Nation,  and  yet  pre- 
serve the  Constitution? 

By  general  law,  life  and  limb  must  be  protected  ;  yet  often 
a  limb  must  be  amputated  to  save  a  life ;  but  a  life  is  never 
wisely  given  to  save  a  limb.  I  feel  that  measures,  otherwise 
unconstitutional,  might  become  lawful,  by  becoming  indispens- 
able to  the  preservation  of  the  Constitution,  through  the  pre- 
servation of  the  Nation.  Right  or  wrong,  I  assumed  this 
ground,  and  now  avow  it.  I  could  not  feel  that  to  the  best  of 
my  ability  I  had  even  tried  to  preserve  the  Constitution,  if  to 
gave  slavery  or  any  minor  matter,  I  should  permit  the  wreck 
of  Government,  Country  and  Constitution,  all  together.  When 
early  in  the  war,  Gen.  Fremont  attempted  military  emancipa- 
tion, I  forbade  it,  because  I  did  not  then  think  it  an  indis- 
pensable necessity.  When  a  little  later,  Gen.  Cameron,  then 
Secretary  of  War,  suggested  the  arming  of  the  blacks,  I 
objected,  because  I  did  not  yet  think  it  an  indispensable  neces- 
sity. "When,  still  later,  Gen.  Hunter  attempted  military  eman- 
cipation, I  again  forbade  it,  because  I  did  not  yet  think  the 
indispensable  necessity  had  come. 

When,  in  March,  and  May,  and  Jujy,  1862,  I  made  earnest 
and  successive  appeals  to  the  Border  States  to  favor  compen- 
sated emancipation,  I  believed  the  indispensable  necessity  for 
military  emancipation  and  arming  the  blacks  would  come, 
unless  averted  by  that  measure.  They  declined  the  proposi- 


LIFE   OF   ABRAHAM    LINCOLN.  481 

tion,  and  I  was,  in  my  best  judgment,  driven  to  the  alternative 
of  either  surrendering  the  Union,  and  with  it  the  Constitution, 
or  of  laying  strong  hand  upon  the  colored  element.  I  chose  the 
latter.  In  choosing  it,  I  hoped  for  greater  gain  than  loss  ;  but 
of  this  I  was  not  entirely  confident.  More  than  a  year  of  trial 
now  shows  no  loss  by  it,  in  our  foreign  relations ;  none  in  our 
home  popular  sentiment ;  none  in  our  white  military  fofce — no 
loss  by  it  anyhow  or  any -where.  On  the  contrary,  it  shows  a 
gain  of  quite  a  hundred  and  thirty  thousand  soldiers,  seamen, 
and  laborers.  These  are  palpable  facts,  about  which,  as  facts, 
there  can  be  no  caviling.  We  have  the  men,  and  we  could  not 
have  had  them  without  the  measure. 

And  now,  let  any  Union  man  who  complains  of  the  measure, 
test  himself,  by  writing  down  in  one  line  that  he  is  for  subdu- 
ing the  rebellion  by  force  of  arms,  and  in  the  next  that  he  is 
for  taking  these  130,000  men  from  the  Union  side,  and  placing 
them  where  they  would  be,  but  for  the  measure  he  condemns. 
If  he  can  not  face  his  cause  so  stated,  it  is  only  because  he  can 
not  face  the  truth. 

I  add  a  word,  which  was  not  in  the  verbal  conversation.  In 
telling  this  tale,  I  attempt  no  compliment  to  my  own  sagacity. 
I  claim  not  to  have  controlled  events,  but  confess  plainly  that 
events  have  controlled  me.  Now,  at  the  end  of  three  years' 
struggle,  the  Nation's  condition  is  not  what  either  party  or  any 
man  devised  or  expected.  God  alone  can  claim  it.  Whither 
it  is  tending,  Beems  plain.  If  God  now  wills  the  removal  of 
a  great  wrong,  and  wills  also  that  we  of  the  North,  as  wall  as 
you  of  the  South,  shall  pay  fairly  for  our  complicity  in  that 
wrong,  impartial  history  will  find  therein  new  cause  to  attest 
and  revere  the  justice  and  goodne.-^s  of  God. 

Yours,  truly,  A.  LINCOLN. 

When  Mr.  Lincoln's  determination  to  employ  negro  soldiers 
first  became  publicly  known,  it  encountered  "  conservative " 
opposition  in  the  loyal  States.  To  many,  even,  who  hoped 
success  from  this  movement,  it  was  a  doubtful  experiment. 
The  results  shown  in  the  foregoing  letter,  leave  this  no  longer 
an  open  question.  Prejudice  has  given  way  before  demon- 
strated fact,  until  soldiers  in  the  field  and  citizens  at  home  now 
welcome  the  aid  of  this  immense  power,  wrested  from  the 
enemy  and  added  to  the  loyal  armies. 

The  arch  conspirator  at  Richmond  had  the  sagacity  to  see 
that  serious  consequences  were  involved  in  this  policy.  Resort- 
ing to  the  methods  so  bug  potcut  with  the  men  of  his  class,  and 
41 


482  LIFE    OP    ABRAHAM    LINCOLN. 

seemingly  forgetful,  for  the  moment,  that  they  were  not  still 
equally  available,  he  fulminated  a  threatening  edict,  designed 
to  arrest  this  work  by  intimidation.  It  was  plainly  indicated 
that  neither  black  soldiers  nor  their  white  officers  need  claim  any 
of  the  immunities  recognized  under  the  laws  of  war.  This  was 
emphatically  met  by  the  President,  in  the  only  possible  way, 
by  orders  for  retaliation,  issued  to  our  armies. 

General  Order,  No.  100,  under  date  of  April  24,  1863,  pro- 
mulgating general  instructions  for  the  government  of  our  armies, 
"  previously  approved  by  the  President,"  contain  the  following 
directions, specially  enjoining  the  protection  of  colored  troops: 

The  law  of  nations  knows  of  no  distinction  of  color,  and  if 
an  enemy  of  the  United  States  should  enslave  and  sell  any 
captured  persons  of  their  army,  it  would  be  a  case  for  the 
severest  retaliation,  if  not  redressed  upon  complaint.  The 
United  States  can  not  retaliate  by  enslavement;  therefore,  death 
must  be  the  retaliation  for  this  crime  against  the  law  of  nations. 

All  troops  of  the  enemy  known  or  discovered  to  give  no 
quarter  in  general,  or  to  any  portion  of  the  army,  receive  none. 

Mr.  Lincoln  made  these  instructions  more  explicit  and  direct, 
in  the  following  order  issued  by  himself  as  Commander-in- 
Chief,  and  communicated  to  the  entire  Army,  referring  to  this 
subject  alone : 

EXECUTIVE  MANSION,         ] 
WASHINGTON,  July  30,  1863.  j 

It  is  the  duty  of  every  Government  to  give  protection  to  its 
citizens,  of  whatever  class,  color  or  condition,  and  especially  to 
those  who  are  duly  organized  as  soldiers  in  the  public  service. 
The  law  of  Nations,  and  the  usages  and  customs  of  war,  as 
carried  on  by  civilized  powers,  permit  no  distinction  as  to  color 
in  the  treatment  of  prisoners  of  war  as  public  enemies.  To 
sell  or  enslave  any  captured  person,  on  account  of  his  color, 
and  for  no  offense  against  the  laws  of  war,  is  a  relapse  into 
barbarism,  and  a  crime  against  the  civilization  of  the  age. 

The  Government  of  the  United  States  will  give  the  same 
protection  to  all  its  soldiers ;  and  if  the  enemy  shall  sell  or 
enslave  any  one  because  of  his  color,  the  offense  shall  be  pun- 
ished by  retaliation  upon  the  ecemy's  prisoners  in  our  possession. 

It  is  therefore  ordered,  that  for  every  soldier  of  the  United 
States  killed  in  violation  of  the  laws  of  war,  a  Rebel  soldier 
shall  be  executed  ;  and  for  every  one  enslaved  by  the  enemy  or 


LIFE   OF   ABRAHAM   LINCOLN.  483 

sold  into  slavery,  a  Rebel  soldier  shall  be  placed  at  hard  labor 
on  the  public  works,  and  continued  at  such  labor  until  the 
other  shall  be  released  and  receive  the  treatment  due  to  a  pris- 
oner of  war.  ABRAHAM  LINCOLN. 

How  completely  the  Administration  has  been  able,  under  the 
often  critical  and  complicated  situations  resulting  from  an  ex- 
tended blockade  of  our  coast,  from  a  premature  concession  of 
belligerent  rights  to  armed  Rebels  by  leading  powers  of  Europe, 
from  the  constant  pud  crafty  efforts  of  Secession  emissaries  to 
secure  a  recognition  of  the  so-called  Confederacy  by  those 
p  owers,  and  from  all  the  incidents  of  an  unprecedented  civil 
war,  necessarily  affecting  our  foreign  relations  in  various  ways, 
to  maintain  peace  with  other  nations,  can  not  be  lost  sight  of 
in  the  excitement  of  military  events  at  home.  The  value  of 
this  successful  pacific  policy — which  has  been  attended  by  an 
increase  rather  than  a  diminution  of  respect  abroad — can  not 
be  too  highly  estimated. 

Not  less  conspicuous  is  the  success  which  has  attended  the 
financial  policy  of  the  Government.  This  is,  indeed,  a  marvel 
which  would  have  hardly  been  credited  in  advance  as  possible, 
with  the  prospect  of  a  war  lengthened  out  beyond  the  period 
of  three  years,  and  calling  into  the  service  a  million  and  a  half  of 
men,  with  all  the  attendant  expenditures.  To-day,  however,  Gov- 
ernment securities  are  firm ;  no  one  doubts  the  full  payment  of 
every  dollar  of  the  public  indebtedness;  every  new  loan  is  speed- 
ily taken ;  and  no  adjusted  claim  has  long  to  await  liquidation. 

The  operations  of  the  Army  and  Navy,  Delated  in  only  the 
merest  summary  of  the  more  prominent  events,  and  necessarily 
excluding  more  than  an  allusion  to  much  that  would  have  re- 
quired volumes  to  detail  at  large,  have  engrossed  a1  great  por- 
tion of  the  preceding  pages.  Could  exact  justice  be  done  in 
such  a  narrative,  as  affecting  both  these  branches  of  the  service, 
it  would  clearly  appear  that  neither  has  been  wanting  m  effi- 
cient executive  management,  or  in  its  proper  share  of  the  great 
work  already  accomplished.  On  these  two  strong  arms  of  war, 
now  so  organized  by  the  President  as  to  secure  universal 
confidence,  must  mainly  depend  the  future  issues  of  the  great 
conflict. 


APPENDIX. 


VARIOUS  PROCLAMATIONS,  LETTERS,  ETC.,  OF  PRESIDENT  LINCOLN, 
NOT  CONTAINED  IN  THE  BODY  OF  THE  WORK, 


RESPECTING   SOLDIERS   ABSENT   WITHOUT   LEAVE. 

BT    THE    PRESIDENT    0?   THE   UNITED   STATES   OF   AMERICA — A   PROCLAMATION. 

EXECUTIVE  MANSION,     ") 
WASHINGTON,  March  10, 1863.  } 

In  pursuance  of  the  twenty-sixth  section  of  the  act  of  Con- 
gress, entitled  an  act  for  enrolling  and  calling  out  the  National 
forces,  and  for  other  purposes,  approved  on  the  third  of  March, 
in  the  year  one  thousand  eight  hundred  and  sixty -three,  I, 
Abraham  Lincoln,  President  and  Commander-in-chief  of  the 
Army  and  Navy  of  the  United  States,  do  hereby  order  and 
command  that  all  soldiers  enlisted  or  drafted  into  the  service 
of  the  United  States,  now  absent  from  their  regiments  without 
leave,  shall  forthwith  return  to  their  respective  regiments ;  and 
I  do  hereby  declare  and  proclaim  that  all  soldiers  now  absent 
from  their  respective  regiments  without  leave,  who  shall,  on  or 
before  the  first  day  of  April,  1863,  report  themselves  at  any 
rendezvous  designated  by  the  general  orders  of  the  War  Depart- 
ment, No.  58,  hereto  annexed,  may  be  restored  to  their  respective 
regiments  without  punishment,  except  the  forfeiture  of  pay  and 
allowances  during  their  absence ;  and  all  who  do  not  return 
within  the  time  above  specified,  shall  be  arrested  as  deserters, 
and  punished  as  the  law  provides ; 

AND  WHEREAS,  Evil-disposed  and  disloyal  persons,  at  sundry 
places,  have  enticed  and  procured  soldiers  to  desert  and  absent 
themselves  from  their  regiments,  thereby  weakening  the  strength 
of  the  armies  and  prolonging  the  war,  giving  aid  and  comfort 
to  the  enemy,  and  cruelly  exposing  the  gallant  and  faithful  sol- 
diers remaining  in  the  ranks  to  increased  hardships  and  dangers ; 

I  do,  therefore,  call  upon  all  patriotic  and  faithful  citizens  to 
oppose  and  resist  the  aforementioned  dangerous  and  treasonable 
crimes,  and  aid  in  restoring  to  their  regiments  all  soldiers  ab- 
sent without  leave,  and  assist  in  the  execution  of  the  act  of 
Congress  for  "  enrolling  and  calling  out  the  National  forces, 

484 


APPENDIX.  485 

and  for  other  purposes,"  and  to  support  the  proper  authorities 
in  the  prosecution  and  punishment  of  offenders  against  said 
act,  and  aid  in  suppressing  the  insurrection  and  the  rebellion. 

In  testimony  whereof  I  have  hereunto  set  my  hand. 

Done  at  the  city  of  Washington,  this  tenth  day  of  March,  in 
the  year  of  our  Lord  one  thousand  eight  hundred  and  sixty-three, 
and  of  the  Independence  of  the  United  States  the  eighty-seventh. 

By  the  President :  ABRAHAM  LINCOLN. 

EDWIN  M.  STANTON,  Secretary  of  War. 

A  NATIONAL   FAST. 

BY   THE   PRESIDENT   OF   THE   UNITED   STATES   07   AMERICA — A.   PROCLAMATION. 

WHEREAS,  The  Senate  of  the  United  States,  devoutly  recog- 
nizing the  supreme  authority  and  just  government  of  Almighty 
God,  in  all  the  affairs  of  men  and  of  nations,  has,  by  a  resolu- 
tion, requested  the  President  to  designate  and  set  apart  a  day 
for  National  prayer  and  humiliation  ; 

AND  WHEREAS,  It  is  the  duty  of  nations,  as  well  as  of  men,  to 
own  their  dependence  upon  the  overruling  power  of  God,  to 
confess  their  sins  and  transgressions  in  humble  sorrow,  yet  with 
assured  hope  that  genuine  repentance  will  lead  to  mercy  and 
pardon,  and  to  recognize  the  sublime  truth  announced  in  the 
Holy  Scriptures,  and  proven  by  all  history,  that  those  nations 
only  are  blessed  whose  God  is  the  Lord  ; 

And,  insomuch  as  we  know  that,  by  His  divine  law,  nations, 
like  individuals,  are  subjected  to  punishments  and  chastisements 
in  this  world,  may  we  not  justly  fear  that  the  awful  calamity 
of  civil  war,  which  now  desolates  the  land,  may  be  but  a  pun- 
ishment inflicted  upon  us  for  our  presumptuous  sins,  to  the 
needful  end  of  our  National  reformation  as  a  whole  people  ? 
We  have  been  the  recipients  of  the  choicest  bounties  of  Heaven. 
We  have  been  preserved,  these  many  years,  in  peace  and  pros- 
perity. We  have  grown  in  numbers,  wealth,  and  power,  as  no 
other  nation  has  ever  grown.  But  we  have  forgotten  God.  We 
have  forgotten  the  gracious  hand  which  preserved  us  in  peace, 
and  multiplied  and  enriched  and  strengthened  us ;  and  we  have 
vainly  imagined,  in  the  deceitfulness  of  our  hearts,  that  all 
these  blessings  were  produced  by  some  superior  wisdom  and 
virtue  of  our  own.  Intoxicated  with  unbroken  success,  we  have 
become  too  self-sufficient  to  feel  the  necessity  of  redeeming  and 
preserving  grace,  too  proud  to  pray  to  the  God  that  made  us ! 

It  behooves  us,  then,  to  humble  ourselves  before  the  offended 
Power,  to  confess  ou/  National  sins,  and  to  pray  for  clemency 
and  forgiveness. 

Now,  therefore,  in  compliance  with  the  request,  and  fully  con- 


486  APPENDIX. 

earring  in  the  views  of  the  Senate,  I  do,  by  this  my  proclama- 
tion, designate  and  set  apart  Thursday,  the  thirtieth  day  of 
April,  1863,  as  a  day  of  National  humiliation,  fasting,  and 
prayer.  And  I  do  hereby  request  all  the  people  to  abstain  on 
that  day  from  their  ordinary  secular  pursuits,  and  to  unite,  at 
their  several  places  of  public  worship  and  their  respective  homes, 
in  keeping  the  day  holy  to  the  Lord,  and  devoted  to  the  humble 
discharge  of  the  religious  duties  proper  to  that  solemn  occasion. 

All  this  being  done,  in  sincerity  and  truth,  let  us  then  rest 
humbly  in  the  hope,  authorized  by  the  Divine  teachings,  that 
the  united  cry  of  the  nation  will  be  heard  on  high,  and  an- 
swered with  blessings,  no  less  than  the  pardon  of  our  National 
sins,  and  restoration  of  our  now  divided  and  suffering  country 
to  its  former  happy  condition  of  unity  and  peace. 

In  witness  whereof,  I  have  hereunto  set  my  hand,  and  caused 
the  seal  of  the  United  States  to  be  affixed. 

Done  at  the  city  of  Washington,  on  this  thirtieth  day 
i-       -i  of  March,  in  the  year  of  our  Lord  one  thousand  eight 
«-  '    'J  hundred  and  sixty-three,  and  of  the  Independence  of 
the  United  States  the  eighty-seventh. 

By  the  President:  ABRAHAM  LINCOLN. 

WILLIAM  H.  SEWARD,  Secretary  of  State. 

THE  DRAFT — A  PROCLAMATION   BY   THE   PRESIDENT. 

WASHINGTON,  May  8,  1863. 

BY  THE   PRESIDENT   OF  THE   UNITED  STATES   OF  AMERICA — A.   PROCLAMATION. 

WHEREAS,  The  Congress  of  the  United  States,  at  its  last 
session,  enacted  a  law,  entitled  "  An  act  for  enrolling  and  call- 
ing out  the  National  forces,  and  for  other  purposes,"  which  was 
approved  on  the  3d  day  of  March  last ;  and 

WHEREAS,  It  is  recited  in  the  said  act  that  there  now  exists 
in  the  United  States  an  insurrection  and  rebellion  against  the 
authority  thereof,  and  it  is,  under  the  Constitution  of  the 
United  States,  the  duty  of  the  Government  to  suppress  insub- 
ordination and  rebellion,  to  guarantee  to  each  State  a  repub- 
lican form  of  government,  and  to  preserve  the  public  tranquil- 
lity ;  and 

.  WHEREAS,  For  these  high  purposes,  a  military  force  is  in- 
dispensable, to  raise  and  support  which  all  persons  ought  wil- 
lingly to  contribute ;  and 

WHEREAS,  No  service  can  be  more  praiseworthy  and  hon- 
orable than  that  which  is  rendered  for  the  maintenance  of  the 
Constitution  and  the  Union,  and  the  consequent  preservation 
of  free  government  ^  and 

WHEREAS,  For  the  reasons  thus  recited  it  was  enacted  by 


APPENDIX.  487 

the  said  statute  that  all  able-bodied  male  citizens  of  the  United 
States,  and  persons  of  foreign  birth  who  shall  have  declared 
on  oath  their  intentions  to  become  citizens  under  and  in  pur- 
suance of  the  laws  thereof,  between  the  ages 'of  twenty  and 
forty-five  years,  with  certain  exemptions  not  necessary  to  be 
here  mentioned,  are  declared  to  constitute  the  National  forces, 
and  shall  be  liable  to  perform  military  duty  in  the  service  of 
the  United  States,  when  called  out  by  the  President  for  that 
purpose;  and 

WHEREAS,  It  is  claimed,  on  and  in  behalf  of  persons  of 
foreign  birth,  within  the  ages  specified  in  said  act,  who  have 
heretofore  declared  on  oath  their  intentions  to  become  citizens 
under  and  in  pursuance  to  the  laws  of  the  United  States,  and 
who  have  not  exercised  the  right  of  suffrage,  or  any  other  po- 
litical franchise  under  the  laws  of  the  United  States,  or  of  any 
of  the  States  thereof,  that  they  are  not  absolutely  precluded 
by  their  aforesaid  declaration  of  intention  from  renouncing 
their  purpose  to  become  citizens ;  and  that,  on  the  contrary, 
such  persons,  under  treaties  and  the  law  of  nations,  retain  a 
right  to  renounce  that  purpose,  and  to  forego  the  privilege  of 
citizenship  and  residence  within  the  United  States,  under  the 
obligations  imposed  by  the  aforesaid  act  of  Congress : 

Now,  therefore,  to  avoid  all  misapprehensions  concerning  the 
liability  of  persons  concerned  to  perform  the  service  required 
by  such  enactment,  and  to  give  it  full  effect,  I  do  hereby  order 
and  proclaim  that  no  plea  of  alienage  will  be  received,  or 
allowed,  to  exempt  from  the  obligations  imposed  by  the  afore- 
said act  of  Congress— any  person  of  foreign  birth  who  shall 
have  declared  on  oath  his  intention  to  become  a  citizen  of  the 
United  States,  under  the  laws  thereof,  and  who  shall  be  found 
within  the  United  States  at  any  time  during  the  continuance 
of  the  present  insurrection  and  rebellion,  at  or  after  the  expi- 
ration of  the  period  of  sixty-five  days  from  the  date  of  this 
proclamation ;  nor  shall  any  such  plea  of  alienage  be  allowed 
in  favor  of  any  such  person  who  has  so,  as  aforesaid,  declared 
his  intention  to  become  a  citizen  of  the  United  States,  and 
shall  have  exercised  at  any  time  the  right  of  suffrage,  or  any 
other  political  franchise  within  the  United  States,  under  the 
laws  thereof,  or  under  the  laws  of  any  of  the  several  States. 

In  witness  whereof,  I  have  hereunto  set  my  hand,  and  caused 
the  seal  of  the  United  States  to  be  affixed. 

Done  at  the  city  of  Washington  this'Sth  day  of 

[L.  s.]   May,  in  the  year  of  our  Lord  1863,  and  of  the  inde- 
pendence of  the  United  States  th.e  eighty-seventh. 

By  the  President:  ABRAHAM  LINCOLN. 

WILLIAM  H.  SEWARD,  Secretary  of  State. 


488  APPENDIX. 

PRESIDENT'S  LETTER  TO  GEN.  SCHOFIELD  RELATIVE  TO  THE 
REMOVAL  OP  GEN.  CURTIS. 

EXECUTIVE  MANSION, 
WASHINGTON,  May  27,  1863. 
Gen.  J.  M.  SCHOFIELD — Dear  Sir:  Having  removed  Gen. 
Curtis  and  assigned  you  to  the  command  of  the  Department  of 
the  Missouri,  I  think  it  may  be  of  some  advantage  to  me  to 
state  to  you  why  I  did  it.  I  did  not  remove  Gen.  Curtis  be- 
cause of  my  full  conviction  that  he  had  done  wrong  by  com- 
mission or  omission.  I  did  it  because  of  a  conviction  in  my 
mind  that  the  Union  men  of  Missouri,  constituting,  when  united, 
a  vast  majority  of  the  people,  have  entered  into  a  pestilent,  fac- 
tious quarrel  among  themselves,  Gen.  Curtis,  perhaps  not  of 
choice,  being  the  head  of  one  faction,  and  Gov.  Gamble  that 
of  the  other.  After  months  of  labor  to  reconcile  the  difficulty, 
it  seemed  to  grow  worse  and  worse,  until  I  felt  it  my  duty  to 
break  it  up  somehow,  and  as  I  could  not  remove  Gov.  Gamble, 
I  had  to  remove  Gen.  Curtis.  Now  that  you  are  in  the  posi- 
tion, I  wish  you  to  undo  nothing  merely  because  Gen.  Curtis  or 
Gov.  Gamble  did  it,  but  to  exercise  your  own  judgment,  and  do 
right  for  the  public  interest.  Let  your  military  measures  be 
strong  enough  to  repel  the  invaders  and  keep  the  peace,  and  not 
so  strong  as  to  unnecessarily  harass  and  persecute  the  people. 
It  is  a  difficult  role,  and  so  much  greater  will  be  the  honor  if 
you  perform  it  well.  If  both  factions,  or  neither,  shall  abuse 
you,  you  will  probably  be  about  right.  Beware  of  being  as- 
sailed by  one  and  praised  by  the  other. 

Yours,  truly,  A.  LINCOLN. 

*»*%*&*  •y' 

Preceded  by  a  band  of  music,  many  of  the  citizens  of  Wash- 
ington, filled  with  joy  at  the  defeat  of  the  Eebels  at  Gettysburg, 
visited  the  White  House  on  the  evening  of  the  4th  of  July, 
1863,  and  serenaded  the  President,  who  acknowledged  the 
compliment  in  the  following  terms: 

FELLOW-CITIZENS  :  I  am  very  glad  indeed  to  see  you  to- 
night, and  yet  I  will  not  say  I  thank  you  for  this  call ;  but  I 
do  most  sincerely  thank  Almighty  God  for  the  occasion  on 
which  you  have  called.  Plow  long  ago  is  it — eighty  odd  years — 
since,  on  the  4th  of  July,  for  the  first  time  in  the  history  of 
the  world,  a  nation,  by  its  representatives,  assembled  and  de- 
clared as  a  self-evident  truth,  "  that  all  men  are  created  equal." 
That  was  the  birthday  of  the  United  States  of  America.  Since 
then  the  4th  of  July  has  had  several  very  peculiar  recogni- 
tions. The  two  men  most  distinguished  in  the  framing  and 


APPENDIX.  489 

eupport  of  the  Declaration,  were  Thomas  Jefferson  and  John 
Adams — the  one  having  penned  it,  and  the  other  sustained  it 
the  most  forcibly  in  debate — the  only  two,  of  the  fifty-five  who 
signed  it,  who  were  elected  Presidents  of  the  United  States. 
Precisely  fifty  years  after  they  put  their  hands  to  the  paper,  it 
pleased  Almighty  God  to  take  both  from  this  stage  of  action. 
This  was  indeed  an  extraordinary  and  remarkable  event  in  our 
history.  Another  President,  five  years  after,  was  called  from 
this  stage  of  existence  on  the  same  day  and  month  of  the  year; 
and  now,  on  this  last  4th  of  July  just  past,  when  we  have  a 
gigantic  rebellion,  at  the  bottom  of  which  is  an  effort  to  over- 
throw the  principle  that  all  men  were  created  equal,  we  have 
the  surrender  of  a  most  powerful  position  and  army  on  that 
very  day.  And  not  only  so,  but  in  a  succession  of  battles  in 
Pennsylvania,  near  to  us,  through  three  days,  so  rapidly  fought 
that  they  might  be  called  one  great  battle,  on  the  1st,  2d,  and 
3d  of  the  month  of  July,  and  on  the  4th  the  cohorts  of  those 
who  opposed  the  declaration  that  all  men  are  created  equal, 
"  turned  tail  "  and  run.  [Long  continued  cheers.]  Gentle- 
men, this  is  a  glorious  theme,  and  the  occasion  for  a  speech ; 
but  I  am  not  prepared  to  make  one  worthy  of  the  occasion.  I 
would  like  to  speak  in  terms  of  praise  due  to  the  many  brave  offi- 
cers and  soldiers  who  have  fought  in  the  cause  of  the  Union  and 
liberties  of  their  country  from  the  beginning  of  the  war.  These 
are  trying  occasions,  not  only  in  success,  but  for  the  want  of 
success.  I  dislike  to  mention  the  name  of  one  single  officer, 
lest  I  might  do  wrong  to  those  I  might  forget.  Recent  events 
bring  up  glorious  names,  and  particularly  prominent  ones ;  but 
these  I  will  not  mention.  Having  said  this  much,  I  will  now 
take  the  music. 

It  was  on  the  4th  of  July,  it  will  be  remembered,  that  Gen. 
Pemberton  surrendered  Vicksburg,  with  over  30,000  prisoners, 
to  Gen.  Grant. 

EXECUTIVE  MANSION,     ") 
WASHINGTON,  July  13,  1863.  j 

Maj.  Gen.  U.  S.  GRANT — My  Dear  General:  I  do  not  re- 
member that  you  and  I  ever  met  personally.  I  write  this  now 
as  a  grateful  acknowledgment  of  the  almost  inestimable  service 
you  have  done  the  country.  I  write  to  say  a  word  further. 
When  you  first  reached  the  vicinity  of  Yicksburg,  I  thought 
you  should  do  what  you  finally  did — march  the  troops  across 
the  neck,  run  the  batteries  with  the  transports,  and  thus  go 
below ;  and  I  never  had  any  faith,  except  a  general  hope,  that 
you  knew  better  than  I  that  the  Yazoo  Pass  expedition,  and 


490  APPENDIX. 

the  like,  could  succeed.  When  you  got  below,  and  took  Port 
Gibson,  Grand  Gulf,  and  vicinity,  I  thought  you  should  go 
down  the  river  and  join  Gen.  Banks,  and  when  you  turned 
northward,  east  of  the  Big  Black,  I  feared  it  was  a  mistake.  I 


now  wish  to  make  the  personal  acknowledgment,  that  you  were 
right  and  I  was  wrong. 

Yours,  truly,  A.  LINCOLN. 

PROCLAMATION   FOR  A  DAT  OF  NATIONAL  THANKSGIVING   BE- 
CAUSE OF  SIGNAL  VICTORIES  ON  SEA  AND  LAND. 

BT  THE  PBESIDIST  OF  THS  UNITED  STATES  OF  JLMEBICA— A  PROCLAMATION. 

It  has  pleased  Almighty  God  to  hearken  to  the  supplications 
and  prayers  of  an  afflicted  people,  and  to  vouchsafe  to  the 
Army  and  Navy  of  the  United  States  on  the  land  and  on  the 
sea,  victories  so  signal  and  so  effective  as  to  furnish  reasonable 
grounds  for  augmented  confidence  that  the  Union  of  these 
States  will  be  maintained,  their  Constitution  preserved,  and 
their  peace  and  prosperity  permanently  secured ;  but  these 
victories  have  been  accorded,  not  without  sacrifice  of  life, 
limb,  and  liberty,  incurred  by  brave,  patriotic,  and  loyal  citi- 
zens. Domestic  affliction,  in  every  part  of  the  country,  follows 
in  the  train  of  these  fearful  bereavements.  It  is  meet  and 
right  to  recognize  and  confess  the  presence  of  the  Almighty 
Father,  and  the  power  of  His  hand  equally  in  these  triumphs 
and  these  sorrows. 

Now,  therefore,  be  it  known,  that  I  do  set  apart  Thursday, 
the  6th  day  of  August  next,  to  be  observed  as  a  day  for  Na- 
tional Thanksgiving,  praise,  and  prayer ;  and  I  invite  the  peo- 
ple of  the  United  States  to  assemble  on  that  occasion  in  their 
customary  places  of  worship,  and  in  the  form  approved  by 
their  own  conscience,  render  the  homage  due  to  the  Divine 
Majesty,  for  the  wonderful  things  He  has  done  in  the  Nation's 
behalf,  and  invoke  the  influence  of  His  Holy  Spirit,  to  subdue 
the  anger  which  has  produced,  and  so  long  sustained,  a  needless 
and  cruel  rebellion ;  to  change  the  hearts  of  the  insurgents ; 
to  guide  the  counsels  of  the  Government  with  wisdom  ade- 
quate to  so  great  a  National  emergency,  and  to  visit  with  ten- 
der care,  and  consolation,  throughout  the  length  and  breadth 
of  our  land,  all  those  who,  through  the  vicissitudes  of  marches, 
voyages,  battles,  and  sieges,  have  been  brought  to  suffer  in 
mind,  body,  or  estate,  and  finally,  to  lead  the  whole  nation 
through  paths  of  repentance  and  submission  to  the  Divine  will, 
back  to  the  perfect  enjoyment  of  union  and  fraternal  peace. 

In  witness  whereof,  I  have  hereunto  set  my  hand,  and  caused 
the  seal  of  the  United  States  to  be  affixed. 


APPENDIX.  491 

Done  at  the  city  of  Washington,  this  fifteenth  day  of 
July,  in  the  year  of  our  Lord  one  thousand  eight 

[L.  S.]  hundred  and  sixty-three,  and  of  the  Independence  of 
the  United  States  of  America  the  eighty-eighth. 

By  the  President :  ABRAHAM  LINCOLN. 

WILLIAM  H.  SEWARD,  Secretary  of  State. 

LETTER  PROM  THE  PRESIDENT  TO  HON.  ERASTUS  CORNING  AND 
OTHERS. 

EXECUTIVE  MANSION,         ") 
WASHINGTON,  June  13,  1863.  } 

HON.  ERASTUS  CORNING  and  others — Gentlemen:  Your 
letter  of  May  19th,  inclosing  the  resolutions  of  a  public  meet- 
ing held  at  Albany,  New  York,  on  the  16th  of  the  same  month, 
was  received  several  days  ago. 

The  resolutions,  as  I  understand  them,  are  resolvable  into 
two  prop'ositions — first,  the  expression  of  a  purpose  to  sustain 
the  cause  of  the  Union,  to  secure  peace  through  victory,  and 
to  support  the  Administration  in  every  constitutional  and  law- 
ful measure  to  suppress  the  rebellion ;  and,  secondly,  a  decla- 
ration of  censure  upon  the  Administration  for  supposed  uncon- 
stitutional action,  such  as  the  making  of  military  arrests.  And 
from  the  two  propositions  a  third  is  deduced,  which  is,  that  the 
gentlemen  composing  the  meeting  are  resolved  on  doing  their 
part  to  maintain  our  common  Government  and  country,  despite 
the  folly  or  wickedness,  as  they  may  conceive,  of  any  Adminis- 
tration. This  position  is  eminently  patriotic,  and  as  such  I 
thank  the  meeting  and  congratulate  the  nation  for  it.  My  own, 
purpose  is  the  same,  so  that  the  meeting  and  myself  have  a 
common  object,  and  can  have  no  difference,  except  in  the  choice 
of  means  or  measures  for  effecting  that  object. 

And  here  I  ought  to  close  this  paper,  and  would  close  it,  if 
there  were  no  apprehension  that  more  injurious  consequences 
than  any  merely  personal  to  myself  might  follow  the  censures 
systematically  cast  upon  me  for  doing  what,  in  my  view  of  duty, 
I  could  not  forbear..  The  resolutions  promise  to  support  me  in 
every  constitutional  and  lawful  measure  to  suppress  the  rebel- 
lion, and  I  have  not  knowingly  employed,  nor  shall  knowingly 
employ,  any  other.  But  the  meeting,  by  their  resolutions, 
assert  and  argue  that  certain  military  arrests,  and  proceedings 
following  them,  for  which  I  am  ultimately  responsible,  are  un- 
constitutional. I  think  they  are  not.  The  resolutions  quote 
from  the  Constitution  the  definition  of  treason,  and  also  the 
limiting  safeguards  and  guarantees  therein  provided  for  the 
citizen  on  trial  for  treason,  and  on  his  being  held  to  answer  for 


492  APPENDIX. 

capital,  or  otherwise  infamous  crimes,  and  in  criminal  prosecu- 
tions, his  right  to  a  speedy  and  public  trial  by  an  impartial 
jury.  They  proceed  to  resolve,  "  that  these  safeguards  of  the 
rights  of  the  citizen  against  the  pretensions  of  arbitrary  power 
were  intended  more  especially  for  his  protection  in  times  of 
civil  commotion." 

And,  apparently  to  demonstrate  the  proposition,  the  resolu- 
tions proceed  :  "  They  were  secured  substantially  to  the  p]ng- 
lish  people  after  years  of  protracted  civil  war,  and  were  adopted 
into  our  Constitution  at  the  close  of  the  Revolution."  Would 
not  the  demonstration  have  been  better  if  it  could  have  been 
truly  said  that  these  safeguards  had  been  adopted  and  applied 
during  the  civil  wars  and  during  our  Revolution,  instead  of 
after  the  one  and  at  the  close  of  the  other?  I,  too,  am  de- 
votedly for  them  after  civil  war,  and  before  civil  war,  and  at 
all  times,  "  except  when,  in  cases  of  rebellion  or  invasion, 
the  public  safety  may  require  "  their  suspension.  The  resolu- 
tions proceed  to  tell  us  that  these  safeguards  "  have  stood  the 
test  of  seventy-six  years  of  trial,  under  our  republican  system, 
under  circumstances  which  show  that,  while  they  constitute  the 
foundation  of  all  free  government,  they  are  the  elements  of  the 
enduring  stability  of  the  Republic."  No  one  denies  that  they 
have  so  stood  the  test  up  to  the  beginning  of  the  present  re- 
bellion, if  we  except.a  certain  occurrence  at  New  Orleans ;  nor 
does  any  one  question  that  they  will  stand  the  same  test  much 
longer  after  the  rebellion  closes.  But  these  provisions  of  the 
Constitution  have  no  application  to  the  case  we  have  in  hand,  be- 
cause the  arrests  complained  of  were  not  made  for  treason — that 
is,  not  for  the  treason  defined  in  the  Constitution,  and  upon  con- 
viction of  which  the  punishment  is  death — nor  yet  were  they 
made  to  hold  persons  to  answer  for  any  capital  or  otherwise 
infamous  crimes ;  nor  were  the  proceedings  following,  in  any 
constitutional  or  legal  sense,  "  criminal  prosecutions."  The 
arrests  were  made  on  totally  different  grounds,  and  the  pro- 
ceedings following  accorded  with  the  grounds  of  the  arrest. 
Let  us  consider  the  real  case. with  which  we  are  dealing,  and 
apply  to  it  the  parts  of  the  Constitution  plainly  made  for  such 


Prior  to  my  installation  here,  it  had  been  inculcated  that 
any  State  had  a  lawful  right  to  secede  from  the  National  Union, 
and  that  it  would  be  expedient  to  exercise  the  right  whenever 
the  devotees  of  the  doctrine  should  fail  to  elect  a  President  to 
their  own  liking.  I  was  elected  contrary  to  their  liking,  and 
accordingly,  so  far  as  it  was  legally  possible,  they  had  taken 
seven  States  out  of  the  Union,  and  had  seized  many  of  the 
United  States  forts,  and  had  fired  upon  the  United  States  flag, 


APPENDIX.  493 

all  before  I  was  inaugurated,  and,  of  course,  before  I  had  done 
any  official  act  whatever.  The  rebellion  thus  began  soon  ran 
into  the  present  civil  war ;  and,  in  certain  respects,  it  began  on 
very  unequal  terms  between  the  parties.  The  insurgents  had 
been  preparing  for  it  more  than  thirty  years,  while  the  Govern- 
ment had  taken  no  steps  to  resist  them.  The  former  had  care- 
fully considered  all  the  means  which  could  be  turned  to  their 
account.  It  undoubtedly  was  a  well-pondered  reliance  with 
them  that,  in  their  own  unrestricted  efforts  to  destroy  Union, 
Constitution,  and  law  altogether,  the  Government  would,  in 
great  degree,  be  restrained  by  the  same  Constitution  and  law 
from  arresting  their  progress.  Their  sympathizers  pervaded 
all  departments  of  the  Government,  and  nearly  all  communities 
of  the  people.  From  this  material,  under  cover  of  "  liberty 
of  speech,"  "liberty  of  the  press,"  and  "habeas  corpus,"  they 
hoped  to  keep  on  foot  among  us  a  most  efficient  corps  of  spies, 
informers,  suppliers,  and  aiders  and  abettors  of  their  cause  in 
a  thousand  ways.  They  knew  that  in  times  such  as  they  were 
inaugurating,  by  the  Constitution  itself,  the  "  habeas  corpus  "> 
might  be  suspended  ;  but  they  also  knew  they  had  friends  who 
would  make  a  question  as  to  who  was  to  suspend  it ;  mean- 
while, their  spies  and  others  might  remain  at  large  to  help  on 
their  cause.  Or  if,  as  has  happened,  the  Executive  should 
suspend  the  writ,  without  ruinous  waste  of  time,  instances  of 
arresting  innocent  persons  might  occur,  as  are  always  likely  to 
occur  in  such  cases,  and  then  a  clamor  could  be  raised  in  regard 
to  this  which  might  be,  at  least,  of  some  service  to  the  insur- 
gent cause.  It  needed  no  very  keen  perception  to  discover  this 
part  of  the  enemy's  programme,  so  soon  as,  by  open  hostilities, 
their  machinery  was  put  fairly  in  motion.  Yet,  thoroughly 
imbued  with  a  reverence  for  the  guaranteed  rights  of  individ- 
uals, I  was  slow  to  adopt  the  strong  measures  which  by  degrees 
I  have  been  forced  to  regard  as  being  within  the  exceptions  of 
the  Constitution  and  as  indispensable  to  the  public  safety. 
Nothing  is  better  known  to  history  than  that  courts  of  justice 
are  utterly  incompetent  to  such  cases.  Civil  courts  are  organ- 
ized chiefly  for  trials  of  individuals,  or,  at  most,  a  few  individ- 
uals acting  in  concert,  and  this  in  quiet  times,  and  on  charges 
of  crimes  well  defined  in  the  law.  Even  in  times  of  peace, 
bands  of  horse-thieves  and  robbers  frequently  grow  too  numer- 
ous and  powerful  for  the  ordinary  courts  of  justice.  But  what 
comparison,  in  numbers,  have  such  bands  ever  borne  to  the 
insurgent  sympathizers  even  in  many  of  the  loyal  States? 
Again,  a  jury  too  frequently  has  at  least  cue  member  more- 
ready  to  hang  the  panel  than  to  hang  the  traitor.  Aad  yet, 
again,  he  who  dissuades  one  man  from  volunteering,  or  induces 


494  APPENDIX. 

one  soldier  to  cfcsert,  weakens  the  Union  cause  as  much  as  he 
who  kills  a  Union  soldier  in  battle.  Yet  this  dissuasion  or  in- 
ducement may  be  so  conducted  as  to  be  no  defined  crime  of 
which  any  civil  court  would  take  cognizance. 

Ours  is  a  case  of  rebellion — so  called  by  the  resolution  be- 
fore me — in  fact  a  clear,  fragrant,  and  gigantic  case  of  rebel- 
lion ;  and  the  provision  of  the  Constitution  that  "  the  privilege 
of  the  writ  of  habeas  corpus  shall  not  be  suspended  unless 
when,  in  cases  of  rebellion  or  invasion,  the  public  safety  may 
require  it,"  is  the  provision  which  specially  applies  to  our  pres- 
ent case.  This  provision  plainly  attests  the  understanding  of 
those  who  made  the  Constitution,  that  ordinary  courts  of- 
justice  are  inadequate  to  "  cases  of  rebellion  " — attests  their 
purpose  that,  in  such  cases,  men  may  be  held  in  custody 
whom  the  courts,  acting  on  ordinary  rules,  would  dis- 
charge. Habeas  corpus  does  not  discharge  men  who  are 
proved  to  be  guilty  of  defined  crime ;  and  its  suspension  is 
allowed  by  the  Constitution  on  purpose  that  men  may.be  ar- 
rested and  held  who  can  not  be  proved  to  be  guilty  of  defined 
crime,  "when,  in  cases  of  rebellion  or  invasion,  the  public 
safety  may  require  it."  This  is  precisely  our  present  case — a 
case  of  rebellion,  wherein  the  public  safety  docs  require  the 
suspension.  Indeed,  arrests  by  process  of  courts,  and  arrests 
in  cases  of  rebellion,  do  not  proceed  altogether  upon  the  same 
basis.  The  former  is  directed  at  the  small  percentage  of  ordi- 
nary and  continuous  perpetration  of  crime  ;  while  the  latter  is 
directed  at  sudden  and  extensive  uprisings  against  the  Govern- 
ment, which  at  most  will  succeed  or  fail  in  no  great  length  of 
time.  In  the  latter  case  arrests  are  made,  not  so  much  for 
what  has  been  done  as  for  what  probably  would  be  done.  The 
latter  is  more  for  the  preventive  and  less  for  the  vindictive  than 
the  former.  In  such  cases  the  purposes  of  men  are  much 
more  easily  understood  than  in  cases  of  ordinary  crime.  The 
man  who  stands  by  and  says  nothing  when  the  peril  of  his 
Government  is  discussed,  can  not  be  misunderstood.  If  not 
hindered,  he  is  sure  to  help  the  enemy ;  much  more,  if  he 
talks  ambiguously — talks  for  his  country  with  "  buts,"  and 
"  ifs  "  and  "  ands."  Of  how  little  value  the  constitutional  pro- 
visions I  have  quoted  will  be  rendered,  if  arrests  shall  never  be  • 
made  until  deflBed  crimes  shall  have  been  committed,  may  be 
illustrated  by  a  few  notable  examples.  Gen.  John  C.  Breckin- 
ridge,  Gen.  Robert  E.  Lee,  Gen.  Joseph  E.  Johnston,  Gen. 
John  B.  Magruder,  Gen.  William  B.  Preston,  Gen.  Simon  B. 
Buckner,  and  Commodore  Franklin  Buchanan,  now  occupying 
the  very  highest  places  in  the  rebel  war  service,  were  all  within 
the  power  of  tho  Government  since  the  rebellion  began .  ;.nd 


APPENDIX.  493 

were  nearly  as  well  known  to  be  traitors  then  as  now.  Un- 
questionably, if  we  had  seized  and  held  them,  the  insurgent 
cause  would  be  much  weaker.  But  no  one  of  them  had  then 
committed  any  crime  defined  by  law.  Every  one  of  them,  if 
arrested,  would  have  been  discharged  on  habeas  corpus,  were 
the  writ  allowed  to  operate.  In  view  of  these  and  similar 
cases,  I  think  the  time  not  unlikely  to  come  when  I  shall  be 
blamed  for  having  made  too  few  arrests  rather  than  too  many. 
By  the  third  resolution,  the  meeting  indicate  their  opinion 
that  military  arrests  may  be  constitutional  in  localities  where 
rebellion  actually  exists,  but  that  such  arrests  are  unconstitu- 
tional in  localities  where  rebellion  or  insurrection  does  not  act- 
ually exist.  They  insist  that  such  arrests  shall  not  be  made 
"outside  of  the  lines  of  necessary  military  occupation  and  the 
scenes  of  insurrection."  Inasmuch,  however,  as  the  Constitu- 
tion itself  makes  no  such  distinction,  I  am  unable  to  believe 
that  there  is  any  such  constitutional  distinction.  I  concede  that 
the  class  of  arrests  complained  of  can  be  constitutional  only 
when,  in  cases  of  rebellion  or  invasion,  the  public  safety  may 
require  them  ;  and  I  insist  that  in  such  cases  they  are  constitu- 
tional wherever  the  public  safety  does  require  them ;  as  well  in 
places  to  which  they  may  prevent  the  rebellion  extending,  as 
in  those  where  it  may  be  already  prevailing ;  as  well  where 
they  may  restrain  mischievous  interference  with  the  raising  and 
supplying  of  armies  to  suppress  the  rebellion,  as  where  the  re- 
bellion may  actually  be ;  as  well  where  they  may  restrain  the 
enticing  men  out  of  the  army,  as  where  they  would  prevent 
mutiny  in  the  army;  equally  constitutional  at  all  places  where 
they  will  conduce  to  the  public  safety,  as  against  the  dangers 
of  rebellion  or  invasion.  Take  the  particular  case  mentioned 
by  the  meeting.  It  is  asserted,  in  substance,  that  Mr.  Vallan- 
digham  was,  by  a  military  commander,  seized  and  tried  "for  no 
other  reason  than  words  addressed  to  a  public  meeting,  in  criti- 
cism of  the  course  of  the  Administration,  and  in  condemnation 
of  the  military  orders  of  the  general."  Now,  if  there  be  no 
mistake  about  this  ;  if  this  assertion  is  the  truth  and  the  whole 
truth ;  if  there  was  no  other  reason  for  the  arrest,  then  I  con- 
cede that  the  arrest  was  wrong.  But  the  arrest,  as  I  under- 
stand,  was  made  for  a  very  different  reason.  Mr.  Vallandigham 
avows  his  hostility  to  the  war  on  the  part  of  the  Union ;  and 
his  arrest  was  made  because  he  was  laboring,  with  some  effect, 
to  prevent  the  raising  of  troops  ;  to  encourage  desertion  from 
the  army,  and  to  leave  the  rebellion  without  an  adequate  mili- 
tary force  to  suppress  it.  He  was  not  arrested  because  he  was 
damaging  the  political  prospects  of  the  Administration,  or  the 
personal  interests  of  the  commanding  gcuci'iJ,  but  because  he 


496  APPENDIX. 

was  damaging  the  army,  upon  the  existence  and  vigor  of  which 
the  life  of  the  nation  depends.  He  was  warring  upon  the  mili- 
tary, and  this  gave  the  military  constitutional  jurisdiction  to  lay 
hands  upon  him.  If  Mr.  Vallandigham  was  not  damaging  the 
military  power  of  the  country,  then  this  arrest  was  made  on  mis- 
take of  fact,  which  I  would  be  glad  to  correct  on  reasonably 
satisfactory  evidence. 

I  understand  the  meeting  whose  resolutions  I  am  considering 
to  be  in  favor  of  suppressing  the  rebellion  by  military  force — 
by  armies.  Long  experience  has  shown  that  armies  can  not  be 
maintained  unless  desertions  shall  be  punished  by  the  severe 
penalty  of  death.  The  case  requires,  and  the  law  and  the  Con- 
stitution sanction,  this  punishment.  Must  I  shoot  a  simple- 
minded  soldier  boy  who  deserts,  while  I  must  not  touch  a  hair 
of  a  wily  agitator  who  induces  him  to  desert?  This  is  none 
the  less  injurious  when  effected  by  getting  a  father,  or  brother, 
or  friend,  into  a  public  meeting,  and  there  working  upon  his 
feelings  till  he  is  persuaded  to  write  the  soldier  boy  that  he  is 
fighting  in  a  bad  cause,  for  a  wicked  Administration  of  a  con- 
temptible Government,  too  weak  to  arrest  and  punish  him  if  he 
shall  desert.  I  think  that  in  such  a  case  to  silence  the  agitator 
and  save  the  boy  is  not  only  constitutional,  but  withal  a  great 
mercy. 

If  I  be  wrong  on  this  question  of  constitutional  power,  my 
error  lies  in  believing  that  certain  proceedings  are  constitu- 
tional when,  in  cases  of  rebellion  or  invasion,  the  public  safety 
requires  them,  which  would  not  be  constitutional  when,  in  the 
absence  of  rebellion  or  invasion,  the  public  safety  does  not  re- 
quire them ;  in  other  words,  that  the  Constitution  is  not,  in  its 
application,  in  all  respects  the  same — in  cases  of  rebellion  or 
invasion  involving  the  public  safety,  as  it  is  in  time  of  profound 
peace  and  public  security.  The  Constitution  itself  makes  the 
distinction;  and  I  can  no  more  be  persuaded  that  the  Govern- 
ment can  constitutionally  take  no  strong  measures  in  time  of 
rebellion,  because  it  cau  be  shown  that  the  same  could  not  be 
lawfully  taken  in  time  of  peace,  than  I  can  be  persuaded  that  a 
particular  drug  is  not  good  medicine  for  a  sick  man,  because  it 
can  be  shown  not  to  be  good  food  for  a  well  one.  Nor  am 
I  able  to  appreciate  the  danger  apprehended  by  the  meeting, 
that  the  American  people  will,  by  means  of  military  arrests 
during  the  rebellion,  lose  the  right  of  public  discussion,  the 
liberty  of  speech  and  the  press,  the  law  of  evidence,  trial  by 
jury,  and  habeas  corpus,  throughout  the  indefinite  peaceful  fu- 
ture, which  I  trust  lies  before  them,  any  more  than  I  am  able 
to  believe  that  a  man  could  contract  so  strong  an  appetite  for 


APPENDIX.  497 

emetics,  during  temporary  illness,  as  to  persist  in  feeding  upon 
them  during  the  remainder  of  his  healthful  life. 

In  giving  the  resolutions  that  earnest  consideration  which 
you  request  of  me,  I  can  not  overlook  the  fact  that  the  meeting 
speak  as  "Democrats."  Nor  can  I,  with  full  respect  for  their 
known  intelligence,  and  the  fairly  presumed  deliberation  with 
which  they  prepared  their  resolutions,  be  permitted  to  suppose 
that  this  occurred  by  accident,  or  in  any  way  other  than  that 
they  preferred  to  designate  themselves  "Democrats"  rather 
than  "American  Citizens."  In  this  time  of  National  peril,  I 
would  have  preferred  to  meet  you  on  a  level  one  step  higher 
than  any  party  platform;  because  I  am  sure  that,  from  such 
more  elevated  position,  we  could  do  better  battle  for  the  coun- 
try we  all  love  than  we  possibly  can  from  those  lower  ones 
where,  from  the  force  of  habit,  the  prejudices  of  the  past,  and 
selfish  hopes  of  the  future,  we  arc  sure  to  expend  much  of  our 
ingenuity  and  strength  in  finding  fault  with  and  aiming  blows 
at  each  other.  But,  since  you  have  denied  me  this,  I  will  yet 
be  thankful,  for  the  country's  sake,  that  not  all  Democrats  have 
done  so.  He  on  whose  discretionary  judgment  Mr.  Vallandig- 
ham  was  arrested  and  tried  is  a  Democrat,  having  no  old  party 
afiinity  with  me ;  and  the  judge  who  rejected  the  constitutional 
view  expressed  in  these  resolutions,  by  refusing  to  discharge 
Mr.  Vallandigham  on  habeas  corpus,  is  a  Democrat  of  better 
days  than  these,  having  received  his  judicial  mantle  at  the 
hands  of  President  Jackson.  And  still  more,  of  all  those 
Democrats  who  are  nobly  exposing  their  lives  and  shedding 
their  blood  on  the  battle-field,  I  have  learned  that  many  ap- 
prove the  course  taken  with  Mr.  Vallandigham,  while  I  have 
not  heard  of  a  single  one  condemning  it.  I  can  not  assert  that 
there  are  none  such. 

And  the  name  of  Jackson  recalls  an  incident  of  pertinent 
history:  After  the  battle  of  New  Orleans,  and  while  the  fact 
that  the  treaty  of  peace  had  been  concluded  was  well  known  in 
the  city,  but  before  official  knowledge  of  it  had  arrived,  Gen. 
Jackson  still  maintained  martial  or  military  law.  Now  that  it 
could  be  said  the  war  was  over,  the  clamor  against  martial  law. 
which  had  existed  from  the  first,  grew  more  furious.  Among 
other  things,  a  Mr.  Louiallier  published  a  denunciatory  news- 
paper article.  Gen.  Jackson  arrested  him.  A  lawyer  by  the 
name  of  Morrel  procured  the  United  States  Judge  Hall  to  issue 
a  writ  of  habeas  corpus  to  relieve  Mr.  Louiallier.  Gen.  Jackson 
arrested  both  the  lawyer  and  the  judge.  A  Mr.  Hollander  ven- 
tured to  say  of  some  part  of  the  matter  that  "  it  was  a  dirty 
trick."  Gen.  Jackson  arrested  him.  When  the  officer  under- 
took to  serve  the  writ  of  habeas  corpus,  Gen.  Jackson  took  it 
42 


498  APPBNMX. 

from  him,  and  sent  him  away  with  a  copy.  Holding  the  judga 
in  custody  a  few  days,  the  General  sent  him  beyond  the  limits 
of  his  encampment,  and  set  him  at  liberty,  with  an  order  to  re- 
main till  the  ratification  of  peace  should  be  regularly  announced, 
or  until  the  British  should  have  left  the  Southern  coast.  A  day 
or  two  more  elapsed,  the  ratification  of  a  treaty  of  peace  was 
regularly  announced,  and  the  judge  and  others  were  fully  liber- 
ated. A  few  days  more,  and  the  judge  called  Gen.  Jackson 
into  court  and  fined  him  $1,000  for  having  arrested  him  and 
the  others  named.  The  General  paid  the  fine,  and  there  the 
matter  rested  for  nearly  thirty  years,  when  Congress  refunded 
principal  and  interest.  The  late  Senator  Douglas,  then  in  the 
House  of  Representatives,  took  a  leading  part  in  the  debates, 
in  which  the  constitutional  question  was  much  discussed.  I  am 
not  prepared  to  say  whom  the  journals  would  show  to  have 
voted  for  the  measure. 

It  may  be  remarked :  First,  that  we  had  the  same  Constitu- 
tion then  as  now ;  secondly,  that  we  then  had  a  case  of  inva- 
sion, and  now  we  have  a  case  of  rebellion ;  and,  thirdly,  that 
the  permanent  right  of  the  people  to  public  discussion,  the  lib- 
erty of  speech  and  of  the  press,  the  trial  by  jury,  the  law  of 
evidence,  and  the  habeas  corpus,  suffered  no  detriment  what- 
ever by  that  conduct  of  Gen.  Jackson,  or  its  subsequent  ap- 
proval by  the  American-  Congress. 

And  yet,  let  me  say  that,  in  my  own  discretion,  I  do  not 
know  whether  I  would  have  ordered  the  arrest  of  Mr.  Vallan- 
digham. While  I  can  not  shift  the  responsibility  from  myself, 
I  hold  that,  as  a  general  rule,  the  commander  in  the  field  is 
the  better  judge  of  the  necessity  in  any  particular  case.  Of 
course,  I  must  practice  a  general  directory  and  revisory  power 
in  the  matter. 

One  of  the  resolutions  expresses  the  opinion  of  the  meeting 
that  arbitrary  arrests  will  have  the  effect  to  divide  and  distract 
those  who  should  be  united  in  suppressing  the  rebellion,  and  I 
am  specifically  called  on  to  discharge  Mr.  Vallandigham.  I  re- 
gard this  as,  at  least,  a  fair  appeal  to  me  on  the  expediency  of 
exercising  a  constitutional  power  which  I  think  exists.  In  re- 
sponse to  such  appeal,  I  have  to  say,  it  gave  me  pain  when  I 
learned  that  Mr.  Vallandigham  had  been  arrested — that  is,  I 
was  pained  that  there  should  have  seemed  to  be  a  necessity  for 
arresting  him — and  that  it  will  afford  me  great  pleasure  to  dis- 
charge him  so  soon  as  I  can,  by  any  means,  believe  the  public 
safety  will  not  suffer  by  it.  I  further  say  that,  as  the  war  pro- 
gresses, it  appears  to  me,  opinion  and  action  which  were  iu 
great  confusion  at  first,  take  shape  and  fall  into  more  regular 
channels,  so  that  the  necessity  for  strong  dealing  with  them 


APPENDIX.  499 

gradually  decreases.  I  have  every  reason  to  desire  th,at  it 
should  cease  altogether ;  and  far  from  the  least  is  my  regard 
for  the  opinions  and  wishes  of  those  who,  like  the  meeting  at 
Albany,  declare  their  purpose  to  sustain  the  Government  in 
every  constitutional  and  lawful  measure  to  suppress  the  rebel- 
lion. Still,  I  must  continue  to  do  so  much  as  may  seem  to  be 
required  by  the  public  safety.  A.  LINCOLN. 

THE   PRESIDENT'S   REPLY  TO   THE  COMMITTEE   FROM   OHIO 

URGING    THE   RECALL   OF   MR.   VALLANDIGHAM. 

WASHINGTON,  June  29,  1863. 

GENTLEMEN:  The  resolutions  of  the  Ohio  Democratic  State 
Convention,  which  you  present  me,  together  with  your  intro- 
ductory and  closing  remarks,  being,  in  position  and  argument, 
mainly  the  same  as  the  resolutions  of  the  Democratic  meeting  at 
Albany,  New  York,  I  refer  you  to  my  response  to  the  latter  as 
meeting  most  of  the  points  in  the  former. 

This  response  you  evidently  used  in  preparing  your  remarks, 
and  I  desire  no  more  than  that  it  be  used  with  accuracy.  In  a 
single  reading  of  your  remarks,  I  only  discovered  one  inaccu- 
racy in  matter  which  I  suppose  you  took  from  that  paper.  It 
is  where  you  say,  "  The  undersigned  are  unable  to  agree  with 
you  in  the  opinion  you  have  expressed  that  the  Constitution  is 
different  in  time  of  insurrection  or  invasion  from  what  it  is  in 
lime  of  peace  and  public  security." 

A  recurrence  to  the  paper  will  show  you  that  I  have  not  ex- 
pressed the  opinion  you  suppose.  I  expressed  the  opinion  that 
the  Constitution  is  different  in  its  application  in  cases  of  rebel- 
lion or  invasion  involving  the  public  safety,  from  what  it  is  in 
times  of  profound  peace  and  public  security.  And  this  opinion 
I  adhere  to,  simply  because,  by  the  Constitution  itself,  things 
may  be  done  in  the  one  case  which  may  not  be  done  in  the 
other. 

I  dislike  to  waste  a  word  on  a  merely  personal  point,  but  I 
must  respectfully  assure  you  that  you  will  find  yourselves  at 
fault  should  you  ever  seek  for  evidence  to  prove  your  assump- 
tion that  I  "opposed,  in  discussions  before  the  people,  the  policy 
of  the  Mexican  War." 

You  say:  "Expunge  from  the  Constitution  this  limitation 
upon  the  power  of  Congress  to  suspend  the  writ  of  habeas  cor- 
PUS,  and  yet  the  other  guarantees  of  personal  liberty  would  re- 
main unchanged."  Doubtless,  if  this  clause  of  the  Constitution, 
improperly  called,  as  I  think,  a  limitation  upon  the  power  of 
Congress,  were  expunged,  the  other  guarantees  would  remain 
the  same ;  but  the  question  is,  not  how  those  guarantees  would 


500  APPENDIX. 

stand  with  that  clause  out  of  the  Constitution,  but  how  they 
stand  with  that  clause  remaining  in  it,  in  case  of  rebellion  or 
invasion  involving  the  public  safety.  If  the  liberty  could  bo 
indulged  in  expunging  that  clause,  letter  and  spirit,  I  really 
think  the  constitutional  argument  would  be  with  you. 

My  general  view  on  this  question  was  stated  in  the  Albany 
response,  and  hence  I  do  not  state  it  now.  I  only  add  that,  as 
Beems  to  me,  the  benefit  of  the  writ  of  habeas  corpus  is  the  great 
means  through  which  the  guarantees  of  personal  liberty  are 
conserved  and  made  available  in  the  last  resort ;  and  corrobor- 
ative of  this  view  is  the  fact  that  Mr.  Yallaudigham,  in  the  very 
case  in  question,  under  the  advice  of  able  lawyers,  saw  not  where 
else  to  go  but  to  the  habeas  corpus.  But  by  the  Constitution 
the  benefit  of  the  writ  of  habeas  corpus  itself  may  be  suspended, 
when,  in  case  of  rebellion  or  invasion,  the  public  safety  may  re- 
quire it. 

You  ask,  in  substance,  whether  I  really  claim  that  I  may 
override  all  the  guaranteed  rights  of  individuals,  on  the  plea 
of  conserving  the  public  safety — when  I  may  choose  to  say  the 
public  safety  requires  it.  This  question,  divested  of  the  phrase- 
ology calculated  to  represent  me  as  struggling  for  an  arbitrary 
personal  prerogative,  is  either  simply  a  question  who  shall  de- 
cide, or  an  affirmation  that  nobody  shall  decide,  what  the  public 
safety  does  require  in  cases  of  rebellion  or  invasion.  The  Con- 
stitution contemplates  the  question  as  likely  to  occur  for  deci- 
sion, but  it  does  not  expressly  declare  who  is  to  decide  it.  By 
necessary  implication,  when  rebellion  or  invasion  comes,  the 
decision  is  to  be  made  from  time  to  time ;  and  I  think  the  man 
whom,  for  the  time,  the  people  have,  under  the  Constitution, 
made  their  Commander-in-chief  of  the  Army  and  Navy,  is  the 
man  who  holds  the  power  and  bears  the  responsibility  of  mak- 
ing it.  If  he  uses  the  power  justly,  the  same  people  will  prob- 
ably justify  him ;  if  he  abuses  it,  he  is  in  their  hands,  to  be 
dealt  with  by  all  the  modes  they  have  reserved  to  themselves 
in  the  Constitution. 

The  earnestness  with  which  you  insist  that  persons  can  only, 
in  times  of  rebellion,  be  lawfully  dealt  with  in  accordance  with 
the  rules  for  criminal  trials  and  punishments  in  times  of  peace, 
induces  me  to  add  a  word  to  what  I  said  on  that  point  in  the 
Albany  response.  You  claim  that  men  may,  if  they  choose, 
embarrass  those  whose  duty  it  is  to  combat  a  giant  rebellion, 
and  then  be  dealt  with  only  in  turn  as  if  there  were  no  rebel- 
lion. The  Constitution  itself  rejects  this  view.  The  military 
arrests  and  detentions  which  have  been  made,  including  those 
of  Mr.  Vallandigham,  which  are  not  different  in  principle  from 
the  other,  have  been  for  prawn  ticn.  and  not  for  punishment — 


APPENDIX.  501 

as  injunctions  to  stay  injury,  as  proceedings  to  keep  the  peace— 
and  hence,  like  proceedings  in  such  cases  and  for  like  reasons, 
they  have  not  been  accompanied  with  indictments,  or  trial  by 
juries,  nor  in  a  single  case  by  any  punishment  •whatever  be- 
yond what  is  purely  incidental  to  the  prevention.  The  original 
sentence  of  imprisonment  in  Mr.  Vallandigham's  case  was  to 
prevent  injury  to  the  military  service  only,  and  the  modifica- 
tion of  it  was  made  as  a  less  disagreeable  mode  to  him  of  secur- 
ing the  same  prevention. 

I  am  unable  to  perceive  an  insult  to  Ohio  in  the  case  of  Mr. 
Vallandigham.  Quite  surely  nothing  of  this  sort  was  or  is  in- 
tended. I  was  wholly  unaware  that  Mr.  Vallandigham  was,  at 
the  time  of  his  arrest,  a  candidate  for  the  Democratic  nomina- 
tion for  Governor,  until  so  informed  by  your  reading  to  me  the 
resolutions  of  the  convention.  I  am  grateful  to  the  State  of 
Ohio  for  many  things,  especially  for  the  brave  soldiers  and  offi- 
cers she  has  given,  in  the  present  National  trial,  to  the  armies 
of  the  Union. 

You  claim,  as  I  understand,  that,  according  to  my  own  posi- 
tion in  the  Albany  response,  Mr.  Vallandigham  should  be  re- 
leased ;  and  this  because,  as  you  claim,  he  has  not  damaged  the 
military  service  by  discouraging  enlistments,  encouraging  deser- 
tions, or  otherwise  ;  and  that  if  he  had,  he  should  have  been 
turned  over  to  the  civil  authorities  under  the  recent  act  of  Con- 
gress. I  certainly  do  not  know  that  Mr.  Vallandigham  has 
specifically  and  by  direct  language  advised  against  enlistments 
and  in  favor  of  desertions  and  resistance  to  drafting.  We  all 
know  that  combinations,  armed,  in  some  instances,  to  resist  the 
arrest  of  deserters,  began  several  months  ago ;  that  more  re- 
cently the  like  has  appeared  in  resistance  to  the  enrollment 
preparatory  to  a  draft ;  and  that  quite  a  number  of  assassina- 
tions have  occurred  from  the  same  animus.  These  had  to  be 
met  by  military  force,  and  this  again  has  led  to  bloodshed  and 
death.  And  now,  under  a  sense  of  responsibility  more  weighty 
and  enduring  than  any  which  is  merely  official,  I  solemnly  de- 
clare my  belief  that  this  hindrance  of  the  military,  including 
maiming  and  murder,  is  due  to  the  cause  in  which  Mr.  Vallafi- 
digham  has  been  engaged,  in  a  greater  degree  than  to  any  other 
cause ;  and  it  is  due  to  him  personally  in  a  greater  degree  than 
to  any  other  one  man. 

These  things  have  been  notorious,  known  to  all,  and  of  course 
known  to  Mr.  Vallandigham.  Perhaps  I  would  not  be  wrong 
to  say  they  originated  with  his  especial  friends  and  adherents. 
With  perfect  knowledge  of  them  he  has  frequently,  if  not  con- 
stantly, made  speeches  in  Congress  and  before  popular  assem- 
blies ;  aud  if  it  can  bo  shown  that,  with  these  things  staring 


602  APPENDIX. 

him  in  the  face,  he  has  ever  uttered  a  word  of  rebuke  or  coun- 
sel against  them,  it  will  be  a  fact  greatly  in  bis  favor  with  me, 
and  one  of  which,  as  yet,  I  am  totally  ignorant.  When  it  ia 
known  that  the  whole  burden  of  his  speeches  has  been  to  stir 
up  men  against  the  prosecution  of  the  war,  and  that  in  the 
midst  of  resistance  to  it  he  has  not  been  known  in  any  instance 
to  counsel  against  such  resistance,  it  is  next  to  impossible  to 
repel  the  inference  that  he  has  counseled  directly  in  favor  of  it. 

With  all  this  before  their  eyes,  the  convention  you  represent 
have  nominated  Mr.  Vallandigham  for  governor  of  Ohio,  and 
both  they  and  you  have  declared  the  purpose  to  sustain  the 
National  Union  by  all  constitutional  means,  but,  of  course,  they 
and  you,  in  common,  reserve  to  yourselves  to  decide  what  are 
constitutional  means,  and,  unlike  the  Albany  meeting,  you  omit 
to  state  or  intimate  that,  in  your  opinion,  an  army  is  a  consti- 
tutional means  of  saving  the  Union  against  a  rebellion,  or  even 
to  intimate  that  you  are  conscious  of  an  existing  rebellion  being 
in  progress  with  the  avowed  object  of  destroying  that  very 
Union.  At  the  same  time,  your  nominee  for  governor,  in 
whose  behalf  you  appeal,  is  known  to  you,  and  to  the  world, 
to  declare  against  the  use  of  an  army  to  suppress  the  rebellion. 
Your  own  attitude,  therefore,  encourages  desertion,  resistance 
to  the  draft,  and  the  like,  because  it  teaches  those  who  incline 
to  desert  and  to  escape  the  draft  to  believe  it  is  your  purpose 
to  protect  them,  and  to  hope  that  you  will  become  strong 
enough  to  do  so. 

After  a  personal  intercourse  with  you,  gentlemen  of  the 
committee,  I  can  not  say  I  think  you  desire  this  effect  to  follow 
your  attitude  ;  but  I  assure  you  that  both  friends  and  enemies 
of  the  Union  look  upon  it  in  this  light.  It  is  a  substantial 
hope,  and  by  consequence,  a  real  strength  to  the  enemy.  If  it 
is  a  false  hope,  and  one  which  you  would  willingly  dispel,  I 
will  make  the  way  exceedingly  easy.  I  send  you  duplicates 
of  this  letter,  in  order  that  you,  or  a  majority  of  you,  may,  if 
you  choose,  indorse  your  names  upon  one  of  them,  and  return 
it  thus  indorsed  to  me,  with  the  understanding  that  those  sign- 
ing are  thereby  committed  to  the  following  propositions,  and  to 
nothing  else : 

1.  That  there  is  now  a  rebellion  in  the  United  States,  the 
object  and  tendency  of  which  is  to  destroy  the  National  Union ; 
and  that,  in  your  opinion,  an  army  and  navy  are  constitutional 
means  for  suppressing  that  rebellion. 

2.  That  no  one  of  you  will  do  any  thing  which,  in  his  own 
judgment,  will  tend  to  hinder  the  increase,  or  favor  the  de- 
crease, or  lessen  the  efficiency  of  the  Army  and  Navy,  while 
engaged  in  the  effort  to  suppress  that  rebellion ;  and — 


APPENDIX.  503 

3.  That  each  of  you  will,  in  his  sphere,  do  all  he  can  to 
have  the  officers,  soldiers,  and  seamen  of  the  Army  and  Navy, 
while  engaged  in  the  effort  to  suppress  the  rebellion,  paid,  fed, 
clad,  and  otherwise  well  provided  and  supported. 

And  with  the  further  understanding  that  upon  receiving  the 
letter  and  names  thus  indorsed,  I  will  cause  them  to  be  pub- 
lished, which  publication  shall  be,  within  itself,  a  revocation  of 
the  order  in  relation  to  Mr.  Vallandigham. 

It  will  not  escape  observation  that  I  consent,  to  the  release 
of  Mr.  Vallandigham  upon  terms  not  embracing  any  pledge 
from  him  or  from  others  as  to  .jvhat  he  will  or  will  not  do.  I 
do  this  because  he  is  "not  present  to  speak  for  himself,  or  to 
authorize  others  to  speak  for  him  ;  and  hence  I  shall  expect 
that  on  returning  he  would  not  put  himself  practically  in  an- 
tagonism wiHi  the  position  of  his  friends.  But  I  do  it  chiefly 
because  I  thereby  prevail  on  other  influential  gentlemen  of 
Ohio  to  so  define  their  position  as  to  be  of  immense  value  to 
the  army — thus  more  than  compensating  for  the  consequences 
of  any  mistake  in  allowing  Mr.  Vallandigham  to  return,  so 
that,  on  the  whole,  the  public  safety  will  not  have  suffered  by 
it.  Still,  in  regard  to  Mr.  Vallandigham  and  all  others,  I 
must  hereafter,  as  heretofore,  do  so  much  as  the  public  service 
may  seem  to  require. 

I  have  the  honor  to  be  respectfully,  yours,  etc., 

ABRAHAM  LINCOLN. 


LETTERS  FROM  PRESIDENT  LINCOLN  TO  GOVERNOR  SEY- 
MOUR, OP  NEW  YORK,  RELATIVE  TO  THE  DRAFT  IN  THAT 
STATE.  * 

EXECUTIVE  MANSION,     ") 
WASHINGTON,  August  7,  1863.  } 

His  Excellency,  HORATIO  SEYMOUR,  Governor  of  New  York, 
Albany,  N.  Y.:  Your  communication  of  the  3d  inst.  has  been 
received  and  attentively  considered.  I  can  not  consent  to  sus- 
pend the  draft  in  New  York,  as  you  request,  because,  among 
other  reasons,  TIME  is  too  important.  By  the  figures  you  send, 
which,  I  presume,  are  correct,  the  twelve  districts  represented 
fall  in  two  classes,  of  eight  and  four  respectively. 

The  disparity  of  the  quotas  for  the  draft  in  these  two  classes 
is  certainly  very  striking,  being  the  difference  between  an  aver- 
age of  2,200  in  one  class,  and  4,864  in  the  other.  Assuming 
that  the  districts  are  equal,  one  to  another,  in  entire  popula- 
tion, as  required  by  the  plan  on  which  they  were  made,  this 
disparity  is  such  as  to  require  attention.  Much  of  it,  however, 
I  suppose,  will  be  accounted  for  by  the  fact  that  so  many  more 


504  APPENDIX. 

persons  fit  for  soldiers  are  in  the  city  than  in  the  country,  who 
have  too  recently  arrived  from  other  parts  of  the  United  States 
and  from  Europe,  to  be  either  included  in  the  census  of  1860, 
or  to  have  voted  in  1862.  Still,  making  due  allowance  for  this, 
I  am  yet  unwilling  to  stand  upon  it  as  an  entirely  sufficient  ex- 
planation of  the  great  disparity.  I  shall  direct  the  draft  to 
proceed  in  all  the  districts,  drawing,  however,  at  first  from  each 
of  the  four  districts — to-wit:  the  Second,  Fourth,  Sixth,  and 
Eighth — only  2.200,  being  the  average  quota  of  the  other  class. 
After  this  drawing,  these  four  districts,  and  also  the  Seven- 
teenth and  Twenty-ninth,  shall  be  carefully  reenrolled ;  and, 
if  you  please,  agents  of  yours  may  witness  every  step  of  the 
process.  Any  deficiency  which  may  appear  by  the  new  enroll- 
ment, will  be  supplied  by  a  special  draft  for  that  object,  allow- 
ing due  credit  for  volunteers  who  may  be  obtained  from  these 
districts  respectively  during  the  interval ;  and  at  all  points,  so 
far  as  consistent  with  practical  convenience,  due  credits  shall  bo 
given  for  volunteers,  and  your  Excellency  shall  be  notified  of 
the  time  fixed  for  commencing  a  draft  in  each  district. 

I  do  not  object  to  abide  a  decision  of  the  United  States  Su- 
preme Court,  or  of  the  Judges  thereof,  on  the  constitutionality 
of  the  draft  law.  In  fact,  I  should  be  willing  to  facilitate  the 
obtaining  of  it.  But  I  can  not  consent  to  lose  the  time  while 
it  is  being  obtained.  We  are  contending  with  an  enemy  who, 
as  I  understand,  drives  every  able-bodied  man  he  can  reach 
into  his  ranks,  very  much  as  a  butcher  drives  bullocks  into  a 
slaughter-pen.  No  time  is  wasted,  no  argument  is  used.  This 
produces  an  army  which  will  soon  turn  upon  our  now  victori- 
ous soldiers  already  in  the  field,  if  they  ifcall  not  bo  sustained 
by  recruits  as  they  should  be.  It  produces  an  army  with  a 
rapidity  not  to  be  matched  on  our  side,  if  we  first  waste  time 
to  re-experiment  with  the  volunteer  system,  already  deemed 
by  Congress,  and  palpably,  in  fact,  so  far  exhausted  as  to  be 
inadequate ;  and  then  more  time  to  obtain  a  Court  decision  as 
to  whether  a  law  is  constitutional  which  requires  a  part  of 
those  not  now  in  the  service  to  go  to  the  aid  of  those  who  are 
already  in  it ;  and  still  more  time  to  determine  with  absolute 
certainty  that  we  get  those  who  are  to  go  in  the  precise  legal 
proportion  to  those  who  are  not  to  go.  My  purpose  is  to  be 
in  my  action  just  and  constitutional,  and  yet  practical,  in  per- 
forming, the  important  duty  with  which  I  am  charged,  of  main- 
taining the  unity  and  the  free  principles  of  our  common 
country.  Your  obedient  servant,  A.  LINCOLN. 


APPENDIX.  505 

EXECUTIVE  MANSION,     \ 
WASHINGTON,  August  11, 1863.  j 

His  Excellency,  HORATIO  SEYMOUR,  Governor  of  New 
York :  Yours  of  the  8th,  with  Judge-Advocate  General  Water- 
bury's  report,  -was  received  to-day. 

Asking  you  to  remember  that  I  consider  time  as  being  very 
important,  both  to  the  general  cause  of  the  country  and  to  the 
soldiers  in  the  field,  I  beg  to  remind  you  that  I  waited,  at  your 
request,  from  the  1st  until  the  6th  inst.,  to  receive  your  com- 
munication dated  the  3d.  In  view  of  its  great  length,  and  the 
known  time  and  apparent  care  taken  in  its  preparation,  I  did 
not  doubt  that  it  contained  your  full  case  as  you  desired  to  pre- 
sent it.  It  contained  the  figures  for  twelve  districts,  omitting 
the  other  nineteen,  as  I  supposed,  because  you  found  nothing 
to  complain  of  as  to  them.  I  answered  accordingly.  In  doing 
so  I  laid  down  the  principle  to  which  I  purpose  adhering, 
which  is  to  proceed  with  the  draft,  at  the  same  time  employing 
infallible  means  to  avoid  any  great  wrong.  With  the  commu- 
nication received  to-day,  you  send  figures  for  twenty-eight  dis- 
tricts, including  the  twelve  sent  before,  and  still  omitting  three, 
for  which  I  suppose  the  enrollments  are  not  yet  received.  In 
looking  over  the  fuller  list  of  twenty -eight  districts,  I  find  that 
the  quotas  for  sixteen  of  them  are  above  2,000  and  below  2,700, 
while  of  the  rest,  six  are  above  2,700  and  six  are  below  2.000. 
Applying  the  principle  to  these  new  facts,  the  Fifth  and  Sev- 
enth Districts  must  be  added  to  the  four  in  which  the  quotas 
have  already  been  reduced  to  2,200  for  the  first  draft ;  and 
with  these  four  others  must  be  added  to  those  to  be  re-enrolled. 
The  correct  case  will  then  stand :  the  quotas  of  the  Second, 
Fourth,  Fifth,  Sixth,  Seventh,  and  Eighth  Districts  fixed 
at  2,200  for  the  first  draft.  The  Provost-Marshal  General 
informs  me  that  the  drawing  is  already  completed  in  the 
Sixteenth,  Seventeenth,  Eighteenth,  Twenty-second,  Twen- 
ty-fourth, Twenty-sixth,  Twenty-seventh,  Twenty-eighth, 
Twenty-ninth,  and  Thirtieth  Districts.  In  the  others,  except 
the  three  outstanding,  the  drawing  will  be  made  upon  the 
quotas  as  now  fixed.  After  the  first  draft,  the  Second,  Fourth, 
Fifth,  Sixth,  Seventh,  Eighth,  Sixteenth,  Seventeenth, 'Twenty- 
first,  Twenty-fifth,  Twenty-ninth,  and  Thirty-first  will  be  en- 
rolled for  the  purpose,  and  in  the  manner  stated  in  my  letter 
of  the  7th  inst.  The  same  principle  will  be  applied  to  the 
now  outstanding  districts  when  they  shall  come  in.  No  part 
of  my  former  letter  is  repudiated  by  reason  of  not  being  re- 
stated in  this,  or  for  any  other  cause. 

Your  obedient  servant,  A.  LINCOLN. 

43 


506  APPENDIX. 

THE   SUSPENSION  OF   THE  WRIT   OF   HABEAS  CORPUS   ORDERED     i 
IN    CERTAIN    CASES. 

BT   THE  PBESIDKST   OF   THE   CXITED   STATES   OF   AMERICA — A   PROCLAMATION. 

WHEREAS,  The  Constitution  of  the  United  States  has  or- 
dained that  "  The  privilege  of  the  writ  of  habeas  corpus  shall 
not  be  suspended,  unless  when,  in  cases  of  rebellion  or  invasion,  \ 
the  public  safety  may  require  it;"  and  whereas,  a  rebellion  was 
existing  on  the  third  day  of  March,  1863,  which  rebellion  is 
still  existing ;  and  whereas,  by  a  statute  which  was  approved 
on  that  day,  it  was  enacted  by  the  Senate  and  House  of  Repre- 
sentatives of  the  United  States,  in  Congress  assembled,  that 
during  the  present  insurrection  the  President  of  the  United 
States,  whenever,  in  his  judgment,  the  public  safety  may  re- 
quire, is  authorized  to  suspend  the  privilege  of  the  writ  of 
habeas  corpus  in  any  case  throughout  the  United  States,  or  any 
part  thereof;  and  whereas,  in  the  judgment  of  the  President, 
the  public  safety  does^equire  that  the  privilege  of  the  said  writ 
shall  now  be  suspended  throughout  the  United  States  in  cases 
where,  by  the  authority  of  the  President  of  the  United  States, 
military,  naval  and  civil  officers  of  the  United  States,  or  any  of  \ 
them,  hold  persons  under  their  command  or  in  their  custody, 
either  as  prisoners  of  war,  spies,  or  aiders  or  abettors  of  the 
enemy,  or  officers,  soldiers,  or  seamen,  enrolled,  drafted,  or 
mustered,  or  enlisted  in,  or  belonging  to,  the  land  or  naval 
forces  of  the  United  States,  or  as  deserters  therefrom,  or  other- 
wise amenable  to  military  law,  or  to  the  rules  and  articles  of 
war,  or  the  rules  and  regulations  prescribed  for  the  military  or 
naval  services  by  the  authority  of  the  President  of  the  United 
States,  or  for  resisting  the  draft,  or  for  any  other  offense  against 
the  military  or  naval  service ;  now,  therefore,  I,  Abraham  Lin-  ^ 
coin,  President  of  the  United  States,  do  hereby  proclaim  and  3 
make  known  to  all  whom  it  may  concern,  that  the  privilege  of 
the  writ  of  habeas  corpus  is  suspended  throughout  the  United 
States,  in  the  several  cases  before-mentioned,  and  that  this  sus- 
pension will  continue  throughout  the  duration  of  the  said  ] 
rebellion,  or  until  this  proclamation  shall,  by  a  subsequent  one. 
to  be  issued  by  the  President  of  the  United  States,  be  modified 
and  revoked.  And  I  do  hereby  require  all  magistrates,  attor- 
neys, and  other  civil  officers  within  the  United  States,  and  all 
officers  and  others  in  the  military  and  naval  services  of  the 
United  States,  to  take  distinct  notice  of  this  suspension,  and 
give  it  full  effect,  and  all  citizens  of  the  United  States  to  con- 
duct and  govern  themselves  accordingly,  and  in  conformity  with 
the  Constitution  of  the  United  States,  and  the  laws  of  Congress,  \ 
in  such  cases  made  and  provided. 


APPENDIX.  507 

In  testimony  whereof,  I  have  hereunto  set  my  hand,  and  caused 
the  seal  of  the  United  States  to  be  affixed,  this  fifteenth  day  of 
September,  in  the  year  of  our  Lord  one  thousand  eight  hun- 
dred and  sixty-three,  and  of  the  Independence  of  the  United 
States  of  America  the  eighty-eighth. 

By  the  President :  ABRAHAM  LINCOLN. 

WILLIAM  H.  SEWARD,  Secretary  of  State. 

PRESIDENT   LINCOLN'S   LETTER  TO   GEN.   SCHOFIELD. 

EXECUTIVE  MANSION,     ) 
WASHINGTON,  D.  C.,  October  1,  1863.  } 

Gen.  JOHN  M.  SCHOFIELD:  There  is  no  organized  military 
force  in  avowed  opposition  to  the  General  Government  now  in 
Missouri,  and  if  any  shall  reappear,  your  duty  in  regard  to  it 
will  be  too  plain  to  require  any  special  instruction.  Still,  the 
condition  of  things,  both  there  and  elsewhere,  is  such  as  to 
render  it  indispensable  to  maintain,  for  a  time,  the  United 
States  military  establishment  in  that  State,  as  well  as  to  rely 
upon  it  for  a  fair  contribution  of  support  to  that  establishment 
generally.  Your  immediate  duty  in  regard  to  Missouri  now  is, 
to  advance  the  efficiency  of  that  establishment,  and  to  so  use 
it,  as  far  as  practicable,  to  compel  the  excited  people  there  to 
let  one  another  alone. 

Under  your  recent  order,  which  I  have  approved,  you  will 
only  arrest  individuals,  and  suppress  assemblies  or  newspapers, 
when  they  may  be  working  palpable  injury  to  the  military  in 
your  charge;  and  in  no  other  case  will  you  interfere  with  the 
expression  of  opinion  in  any  form,  or  allow  it  to  be  interfered 
with  violently  by  others.  In  this  you  have  a  discretion  to  ex- 
ercise with  great  caution,  calmness  and  forbearance. 

With  the  matter  of  removing  the  inhabitants  of  certain 
counties  en  masse,  and  of  removing  certain  individuals  from 
time  to  time,  who  are  supposed  to  be  mischievous,  I  am  not 
now  interfering,  but  am  leaving  to  your  own  discretion. 

Nor  am  I  interfering  with  what  may  still  seem  to  you  to  be 
necessary  restrictions  upon  trade  and  intercourse.  I  think 
proper,  however,  to  enjoin  upon  you  the  following :  Allow  no 
part  of  the  military  under  your  command  to  be  engaged  in 
either  returning  fugitive  slaves,  or  in  forcing  or  enticing  slaves 
from  their  homes ;  and,  so  far  as  practicable,  enforce  the  same 
forbearance  upon  the  people. 

Report  to  me  your  opinion  upon  the  availability  for  good  of 
the  enrolled  militia  of  the  State.  Allow  no  one  to  enlist  col- 
ored troops,  except  upon  orders  from  you,  or  from  here  through 
you. 


508  APPENDIX. 

Allow  no  one  to  assume  the  functions  of  confiscating  prop- 
erty, under  the  law  of  Congress,  or  otherwise,  except  upon 
orders  from  here. 

At  elections,  see  that  those,  and  only  those,  are  allowed  to 
vote,  who  are  entitled  to  do  so  by  the  laws  of  Missouri,  includ- 
ing as  of  those  laws  the  restrictions  laid  by  the  Missouri  Con- 
vention upon  those  who  may  have  participated  in  the  rebellion. 

So  far  as  practicable,  you  will,  by  means  of  your  military 
force,  expel  guerrillas,  marauders,  and  murderers,  and  all  who 
are  known  to  harbor,  aid,  or  abet  them.  But,  in  like  manner, 
you  will  repress  assumptions  of  unauthorized  individuals  to 
perform  the  same  service,  because,  under  pretense  of  doing 
this,  they  become  marauders  and  murderers  themselves. 

To  now  restore  peace,  let  the  military  obey  orders ;  and  those 
not  of  the  military  leave  each  other  alone,  thus  not  breaking 
the  peace  themselves. 

In  giving  the  above  directions,  it  is  not  intended  to  restrain 
vou  in  other  expedient  and  necessary  matters,  not  falling  within 
their  range.  Your  obedient  servant,  A.  LINCOLN. 

THANKSGIVING. 

BT  THB  PRESIDES!  OF    THE  UNITED  STATES  QT    AMERICA— A  PBOCLAMATIOH. 

The  year  that  is  drawing  toward  its  close  has  been  filled  with 
the  blessings  of  fruitful  fields  and  healthful  skies.  To  these 
bounties,  which  are  so  constantly  enjoyed  that  we  are  prone  to 
forget  the  source  from  which  they  come,  others  have  been 
added  which  are  of  so  extraordinary  a  nature  that  they  can  not 
fail  to  even  penetrate  and  soften  the  heart  which  is  habitually 
insensible  to  the  ever  watchful  providence  of  Almighty  God. 
In  the  midst  of  a  civil  war  of  unequaled  magnitude  and  sever- 
ity, which  has  sometimes  seemed  to  invite  and  provoke  the 
aggressions  of  foreign  States,  peace  has  been  preserved  with 
all  nations,  order  has  been  maintained,  the  laws  have  been  re- 
spected and  obeyed,  and  harmony  has  prevailed  every-where, 
except  in  the  theater  of  military  conflict.  While  that  theater 
has  been  greatly  contracted  by  the  advancing  armies  and  navies 
of  the  Union,  the  needful  diversion  of  wealth  and  strength 
from  the  fields  of  peaceful  industry  to  the  national  defense, 
have  not  arrested  the  plow,  the  shuttle,  or  the  ship.  The 
ax  has  enlarged  the  borders  of  our  settlements,  and  the  mines, 
as  well  of  iron  and  coal  as  of  the  precious  metals,  have  yielded 
even  more  abundantly  than  heretofore.  Population  has  steadily 
increased,  notwithstanding  the  waste  that  has  been  made  in  the 
camp,  the  siege,  and  the  battle-field ;  and  the  country,  rejoicing 
in  the  consciousness  of  augmented  strength  and  vigor,  is  per- 


APPENDIX.  509 

mitted  to  expect  a  continuance  of  years,  with  a  large  increase 
of  freedom.  No  human  counsel  hath  devised,  nor  hath  any 
mortal  hand  worked  out  these  great  things.  They  are  the 
gracious  gifts  of  the  Most  High  God,  who,  while  dealing  with 
us  in  anger  for  our  sins,  hath  nevertheless  remembered  mercy. 

It  hath  seemed  to  me  fit  and  proper  that  they  should  be 
solemnly,  devoutly,  and  gratefully  acknowledged,  as  with  ono 
heart  and  voice,  by  the  whole  American  people.  I  do,  there- 
fore, invite  my  fellow-citizens  in  every  part  of  the  United 
States,  and  also  those  who  are  at  sea,  and  those  who  are  so- 
journing in  foreign  lands,  to  set  apart  and  observe  the  last 
Thursday  of  November  next  as  a  day  of  thanksgiving  and 
prayer  to  our  beneficent  Father,  who  dwelleth  in  the  heavens. 
And  I  recommend  to  them  that,  while  offering  up  the  ascrip- 
tions justly  due  to  him  for  such  signal  deliverances  and  bless- 
ings, they  do  also,  with  humble  penitence  for  our  National 
perverseness  and  disobedience,  commend  to  his  tender  care  all 
those  who  have  become  widows,  orphans,  mourners,  or  sufferers, 
in  the  lamentable  civil  strife  in  which  we  are  unavoidably  en- 
gaged, and  fervently  implore  the  interposition  of  the  Almighty 
hand  to  heal  the  wounds  of  the  nation,  and  to  restore  it,  as 
eoon  as  may  be  consistent  with  the  Divine  purposes,  to  the  full 
enjoyment  of  peace,  harmony,  tranquillity,  and  union. 

In  testimony  whereof,  I  have  hereunto  set  my  hand,  and 
caused  the  seal  of  the  United  States  to  be  afiixed. 

Done  at  the  city  of  Washington,  this,  the  third  day  of  Octo- 

p T    _  1    ber,  in  the  year  of  our  Lord  1863,  and  of  the  Inde- 

L  '    'J    pendence  of  the  United  States  the  eighty-eighth.    . 

By  the  President :  ABRAHAM  LINCOLN. 

WILLIAM  H.  SEWARD,  Secretary  of  State. 

{r   fj"j.-*  v.(*     (.••'•  t »«/•).'•  i;^W   i."'.1  ' 

PRESIDENT  LINCOLN'S  REPLY  TO  HON.  CHARLES  D.  DRAKE  AND 
OTHERS. 

EXECUTIVE  MANSION,         ) 
WASHINGTON,  October  5,  1863.  j 

Hon.  CIIAS.  D.  DRAKE  and  others,  Committee — Gentlemen: 
Your  original  address,  presented  on  the  30th  ult.,  and  the  four 
supplementary  ones  presented  on  the  3d  inst.,  have  been  care- 
fully considered.  I  hope  you  will  regard  the  other  duties 
claiming  my  attention,  together  with  the  great  length  and  im- 
portance of  these  documents,  as  constituting  a  sufficient  apol- 
ogy for  my  not  having  responded  sooner. 

These  papers,  framed  for  a  common  object,  consist  of  the 
things  demanded,  and  the  reasons  for  demanding  them. 

The  things  demanded  are  : 


510  APPENDIX. 

1st.  That  Gen.  Schofield  shall  be  relieved,  and  Gen.  Butler 
be  appointed  as  Commander  of  the  Military  Department  of 
Missouri ; 

2d.  That  the  system  of  enrolled  militia  in  Missouri  may  be 
broken  up,  and  National  forces  be  substituted  for  it ;  and 

3d.  That  at  elections  persons  may  not  be  allowed  to  vote  who 
are  not  entitled  by  law  to  do  so. 

Among  the  reasons  given,  enough  of  suffering  and  wrong  to 
Union  men,  is  certainly,  and  I  suppose  truly,  stated.  Yet  the 
whole  case,  as  presented,  fails  to  convince  me  that  Gen. 
Schofield,  or  the  enrolled  militia,  is  responsible  for  that  suffer- 
ing and  wrong.  The  whole  can  be  explained  on  a  more  chari- 
table, and,  as  I  think,  a  more  rational  hypothesis. 

We  are  in  civil  war.  In  such  cases  there  always  is  a  main 
question ;  but  in  this  case  that  question  is  a  perplexing  com- 
pound— Union  and  Slavery.  It  thus  becomes  a  question  not 
of  two  sides  merely,  but  of  at  least  four  sides,  even  among 
those  who  are  for  the  Union,  saying  nothing  of  those  who  are 
against  it.  Thus,  those  who  are  for  the  Union  with,  but  not 
without  Slavery — those  for  it  without,  but  not  with — those  for  it 
with  or  without,  but  prefer  it  with,  and  those  for  it  with,  or 
toithout,  but  prefer  it  without. 

Among  these,  again,  is  a  subdivision  of  those  who  are  for 
gradual,  but  not  for  immediate,  and  those  who  are  for  imme- 
diate, but  not  for  gradual  extinction  of  slavery. 

It  is  easy  to  conceive  that  all  these  shades  of  opinion,  and 
even  more,  may  be  sincerely  entertained  by  honest  and  truth- 
ful men.  Yet,  all  being  for  the  Union,  by  reason  of  these  dif- 
ferences, each  will  prefer  a  different  way  of  sustaining  the 
Union.  At  once,  sincerity  is  questioned,  and  motives  are 
assailed.  Actual  war  coming,  blood  grows  hot,  and  blood  is 
spilled.  Thought  is  forced  from  old  channels  into  confusion. 
Deception  breeds  and  thrives.  Confidence  dies,  and  universal 
suspicion  reigns.  Each  man  feels  an  impulse  to  kill  his  neigh- 
bor, lest  he  be  killed  by  him.  Revenge  and  retaliation  follow. 
And  all  this,  as  before  said,  may  be  among  honest  men  only. 
But  this  is  not  all.  Every  foul  bird  comes  abroad,  and  every 
dirty  reptile  rises  up.  These  add  crime  to  confusion.  Strong 
measures  deemed  indispensable  but  harsh  at  best,  such  men 
make  worse  by  maladministration.  Murders  for  old  grudges, 
and  murders  for  pelf,  proceed  under  any  cloak  that  will  best 
serve  for  the  occasion. 

These  causes  amply  account  for  what  has  occurred  in  Mis- 
souri, without  ascribing  it  to  the  weakness  or  wickedness  of 
any  general.  The  newspaper  files,  those  chroniclers  of  current 
events,  will  show  that  the  evils  now  complained  of,  were  quite 


APPENDIX.  511 

as  prevalent  under  Fremont,  Hunter,  Halleck,  and  Curtis,  as 
under  Schofield.  If  the  former  had  greater  force  opposed  to 
them,  they  also  had  greater  force  with  which  to  meet  it. 
When  the  organized  rebel  army  left  the  State,  the  main  Fede- 
ral forne  had  to  go  also,  leaving  the  Department  Commander 
at  home,  relatively  no  stronger  than  before.  Without  dispar- 
aging any,  I  affirm  with  confidence,  that  no  Commander  of  that 
Department  has,  in  proportion  to  his  means,  done  better  than 
Gen.  Schofield. 

The  first  specific  charge  against  Gen.  Schofield  is,  that 
the  enrolled  militia  was  placed  under  his  command,  whereas  it 
had  not  been  placed  under  the  command  of  Gen.  Curtis. 
The  fact  is,  I  believe,  true ;  but  you  do  not  point  out,  nor  can 
I  conceive  how  that  did,  or  could,  injure  loyal  men  or  the 
Union  cause. 

You  charge  that  Gen.  Curtis  being  superseded  by  Gen. 
Schofield,  Franklin  A.  Dick  was  superseded  by  James  0. 
Broadhead  as  Provost-Marshal  General.  No  very  specific 
showing  is  made  as  to  how  this  did  or  could  injure  the  Union 
cause.  It  recalls,  however,  the  condition  of  things,  as  pre- 
sented to  me,  whic-h  led  to  a  change  of  commander  of  that 
department. 

To  restrain  contraband  intelligence  and  trade,  a  system  of 
searches,  seizures,  permits  and  passes,  had  been  introduced,  I 
think,  by  Gen.  Fremont.  When  Gen.  Halleck  came,  he 
found  and  continued  the  system,  and  added  an  order,  applica- 
ble to  some  parts  of  the  State,  to  levy  and  collect  contributions 
from  noted  rebels,  to  compensate  losses,  and  relieve  destitution 
caused  by  the  rebellion.  The  action  of  Gen.  Fremont  and 
Gen.  Halleck,  as  stated,  constituted  a  sort  of  system  which 
Gen.  Curtis  found,  in  full  operation  when  he  took  command 
of  the  department.  That  there  was  a  necessity  for  something 
of  the  sort  was  clear ;  but  that  it  could  only  be  justified  by 
stern  necessity,  and  that  it  was  liable  to  great  abuse  in  adminis- 
tration, was  equally  clear.  Agents  to  execute  it,  contrary  to  the 
great  prayer,  were  led  into  temptation.  Some  might,  while 
others  would  not  resist  that  temptation.  It  was  not  possible 
to  hold  any  to  a  very  strict  accountability ;  and  those  yield- 
ing to  the  temptation,  would  sell  permits  and  passes  to  those 
who  would  pay  most,  and  most  readily  for  them ;  and  would 
seize  property  and  collect  levies  in  the  aptest  way  to  fill  their 
own  pockets.  Money  being  the  object,  the  man  having  money, 
whether  loyal  or  disloyal,  would  be  a  victim.  This  practice 
doubtless  existed  to  some  extent,  and  it  was  a  real  additional 
evil,  that  it  could  be,  and  was  plausibly  charged  to  exist  in 
greater  extent  than  it  did. 


612  APPENDIX. 

When  Gen.  Curtis  took  command  of  tie  department,  Mr 
Dick,  against  -whom  I  never  knew  any  thing  to  allege,  had  gen- 
eral charge  of  this  system.  A  controversy  in  regard  to  it  rap- 
idly grew  into  almost  unmanageable  proportions.  One  side 
ignored  the  necessity  and  magnified  the  evils  of  the  system, 
while  the  other  ignored  the  evils  and  magnified  the  necessity  ; 
and  each  bitterly  assailed  the  other.  I  could  not  fail  to  see 
that  the  controversy  enlarged  in  the  same  proportion  as  the 
professed  Union  men  there  distinctly  took  sides  in  two  oppos- 
ing political  parties.  I  exhausted  my  wits,  and  very  nearly 
my  patience  also,  in  efforts  to  convince  both  that  the  evils 
they  charged  on  each  other  were  inherent  in  the  case,  and  could 
not  be  cured  by  giving  either  party  a  victory  over  the  other. 

Plainly,  the  irritating  system  was  not  to  be  perpetual ;  and 
it  was  plausibly  urged  that  it  could  be  modified  at  once  with 
advantage.  The  case  could  scarcely  be  worse,  and  whether  it 
could  be  made  better  could  only  be  determined  by  a  trial.  In 
this  view,  and  not  to  ban,  or  brand  Gen.  Curtis,  or  to  give  a 
victory  to  any  party,  I  made  the  change  of  commander  for  the 
department.  I  now  learn  that  soon  after  this  change  Mr.  Dick 
was  removed,  and  that  Mr.  Broadhead,  a  gentleman  of  no  less 
good  character,  was  put  in  the  place.  The  mere  fact  of  this 
change  is  more  distinctly  complained  of  than  is  any  conduct 
of  the  new  officer,  or  other  consequence  of  the  change. 

I  gave  the  new  commander  no  instructions  as  to  the  admin- 
istration of  the  system  mentioned,  beyond  what  is  contained  in 
the  private  letter  afterward  surreptitiously  published,  in  which  I 
directed  him  to  act  solely  for  the  public  good,  and  independ- 
ently of  both  parties.  Neither  any  thing  you  have  presented 
me,  nor  any  thing  I  have  otherwise  learned,  has  convinced  me 
that  he  has  been  unfaithful  to  this  charge. 

Imbecility  is  urged  as  one  cause  for  removing  Gen.  Schofield, 
and  the  late  massacre  at  Lawrence,  Kansas,  is  pressed  as  evi- 
dence of  that  imbecility.  To  my  mind  that  fact  scarcely  tends 
to  prove  the  proposition.  That  massacre  is  only  an  example 
of  what  Grierson,  John  Morgan,  and  many  others,  might  have 
repeatedly  done  on  their  respective  raids,  had  they  chosen  to 
incur  the  personal  hazard,  and  possessed  the  fiendish  hearts  to 
do  it. 

The  charge  is  made  that  Gen.  Schofield,  on  purpose  to  pro- 
tect the  Lawrence  murderers,  would  not  allow  them  to  be  pur- 
sued into  Missouri.  While  no  punishment  could  be  too  sudden 
or  too  severe  for  those  murderers,  I  am  well  satisfied  that  the 
preventing  of  the  threatened  remedial  raid  into  Missouri  was 
the  only  way  to  avoid  an  indiscriminate  massacre  there,  includ- 
ing probably  more  innocent  than  guilty.  Instead  of  condemn- 


APPENDIX.  513 

ing,  I  therefore  approve  what  I  understand  Gen.  Schofield  did 
in  that  respect. 

The  charge  that  Gen.  Schofield  has  purposely  withheld  pro- 
tection from  loyal  people,  ind  purposely  facilitated  the  objects 
of  the  disloyal,  are  altogether  beyond  my  power  of  belief.  I 
do  not  arraign  the  veracity  of  gentlemen  as  to  the  facts  com- 
plained of;  but  I  do  more  than  question  the  judgment  which 
would  infer  that  these  facts  occurred  in  accordance  with  the 
purposes  of  Gen.  Schofield. 

With  my  present  views,  I  must  decline  to  remove  Gen. 
Schofield.  In  this  I  decide  nothing  against  Gen.  Butler.  I 
sincerely  wish  it  were  convenient  to  assign  him  a  suitable 
command. 

In  order  to  meet  some  existing  evils,  I  have  addressed  a  letter 
of  instruction  to  Gen.  Schofield,  a  copy  of  which  I  inclose  to 
you.  As  to  the  "  Enrolled  Militia,"  I  shall  endeavor  to  ascer- 
tain, better  than  I  now  know,  what  is  its  exact  value.  Let  me 
say  now,  however,  that  your  proposal  to  substitute  National 
force  for  the  "  Enrolled  Militia,"  implies  that,  in  your  judg- 
ment, the  latter  is  doing  something  which  needs  to  be  done ; 
and  if  so,  the  proposition  to  throw  that  force  away,  and  to 
supply  its  place  by  bringing  other  forces  from  the  field,  where 
they  are  urgently  needed,  seems  to  me  very  extraordinary. 
Whence  shall  they  come?  Shall  they  be  withdrawn  from 
Banks,  or  Grant,  or  Steele,  or  Rosecrans  ? 

Few  things  have  been  so  grateful  to  my  anxious  feelings,  as 
when,  in  June  last,  the  local  force  in  Missouri  aided  Gen. 
Schofield  to  so  promptly  send  a  large  general  force  to  the  re- 
lief of  Gen.  Grant,  then  investing  Vicksburg,  and  menaced 
from  without  by  Gen.  Johnston.  Was  this  all  wrong  ?  Should 
the  Enrolled  Militia  then  have  been  broken  up,  and  Gen. 
Heron  kept  from  Grant,  to  police  Missouri  ?  So  far  from  find- 
ing cause  to  object,  I  confess  to  a  sympathy  for  whatever  re- 
lieves our  general  force  in  Missouri,  and  allows  it  to  serve 
elsewhere. 

I  therefore,  as  at  present  advised,  can  not  attempt  the  de- 
struction of  the  Enrolled  Militia  of  Missouri.  I  may  add, 
that  the  force  being  under  the  National  military  control,  it  is 
also  within  the  proclamation  with  regard  to  the  habeas  corpus. 

I  concur  in  the  propriety  of  your  request  in  regard  to  elec- 
tions, and  have,  as  you  see,  directed  Gen.  Schofield  accord- 
ingly. I  do  not  feel  justified  to  enter  upon  the  broad  field  you 
present  in  regard  to  the  political  differences  between  Radicals 
and  Conservatives.  From  time  to  time  I  have  done  and  said 
what  appeared  to  me  proper  to  do  and  say.  The  public  knows 
it  well.  It  obliges  nobody  to  follow  me.  and  I  trust  it  obliges 


514  APPENDIX. 

me  to  follow  nobody.  The  Radicals  and  Conservatives  each 
agree  with  me  in  some  things  and  disagree  in  others.  I  could 
wish  both  to  agree  with  me  in  all  things ;  for  then  they  would 
agree  with  each  other,  and  would  be  too  strong  for  any  foe  from 
any  quarter.  They,  however,  choose  to  do  otherwise,  and  I  do 
not  question  their  right.  I,  too,  shall  do  what  seems  to  be  my 
duty.  I  hold  whoever  commands  in  Missouri,  or  elsewhere, 
responsible  to  me,  and  not  to  either  Radicals  or  Conservatives. 
It  is  my  duty  to  hear  all ;  but  at  last  I  must,  within  my  sphere, 
judge  what  to  do  and  what  to  forbear. 

Your  obedient  servant,  A.  LINCOLN. 


A  CALL  FOR  THREE  HUNDRED  THOUSAND  VOLUNTEERS. 

BY  THE   PRESIDENT   OF   THE   UNITED   STATES   OF  AMERICA — A  PROCLAMATION. 

WHEREAS,  The  term  of  service  of  part  of  the  volunteer 
forces  of  the  United  States  will  expire  during  the  coming  year; 
and  whereas,  in  addition  to  the  men  raised  by  the  present  draft, 
it  is  deemed  expedient  to  call  out  three  hundred  thousand  vol- 
unteers to  serve  for  three  years  or  during  the  war,  not,  however, 
exceeding  three  years ;  Now,  therefore,  I,  Abraham  Lincoln, 
President  of  the  United  States  and  Commander-in-chief  of  the 
Army  and  Navy  thereof,  and  of  the  militia  of  the  several  States 
when  called  into  actual  service,  do  issue  this  my  proclamation, 
calling  upon  the  Governors  of  the  different  States  to  raise,  and 
have  enlisted  into  the  United  States  service,  for  the  various 
companies  and  regiments  in  the  field  from  their  respective 
States,  their  quotas  of  three  hundred  thousand  men. 

I  further  proclaim  that  all  the  volunteers  thus  called  out  and 
duly  enlisted,  shall  receive  advance  pay,  premium,  and  bounty, 
as  heretofore  communicated  to  the  Governors  of  States  by  the 
War  Department,  through  the  Provost  Marshal  General's  office, 
by  special  letters. 

I  further  proclaim  that  all  volunteers  received  under  this  call, 
as  well  as  all  others  not  heretofore  credited,  shall  be  duly  cred- 
ited and  deducted  from  the  quotas  established  for  the  new  draft. 

I  further  proclaim  that  if  any  State  shall  fail  to  raise  the 
quota  assigned  to  it  by  the  War  Department  under  this  call, 
then  a  draft  for  the  deficiency  in  said  quota  shall  be  made  in 
said  State,  or  on  the  districts  of  said  State  for  their  due  pro- 
portion of  said  quota,  and  the  said  draft  shall  commence  on  the 
fifth  day  of  January,  1864. 

And  I  further  proclaim  that  nothing  in  this  proclamation 
shall  interfere  with  existing  orders,  or  with  those  which  may 
be  issued  for  the  present  draft  in  the  States  where  it  is  now  in 
progress,  or  where  it  has  not  yet  been  commenced. 


APPENDIX.  515 

The  quotas  of  the  States  and  districts  will  be  assigned  by  the 
War  Department  through  the  Provost  Marshal  General's  office, 
due  regard  being  had  for  the  men  heretofore  furnished,  whether 
by  volunteering  or  drafting ;  and  the  recruiting  will  be  con- 
ducted in  accordance  with  such  instructions  as  have  been  or 
may  be  issued  by  that  Department. 

In  issuing  this  proclamation,  I  address  myself  not  only  to 
the  Governors  of  the  several  States,  but  also  to  the  good  and 
loyal  people  thereof,  invoking  them  to  lend  their  cheerful,  will- 
ing, and  effective  aid  to  the  measures  thus  adopted,  with  a  view 
to  reinforce  our  victorious  armies  now  in  the  field,  and  bring 
our  military  operations  to  a  prosperous  end,  thus  closing  for- 
ever the  fountains  of  sedition  and  civil  war. 

In  witness  whereof,  I  have  hereunto  set  my  hand,  and  caused 
the  seal  of  the  United  States  to  be  affixed. 

Done  at  the  city  of  Washington,  this  seventeenth  day 
[L.  s.]  of  October,  A.  D.  1863,  and  of  the  Independence  of  the 
United  States  the  eighty-eighth. 

By  the  President:  ABRAHAM  LINCOLN. 

WILLIAM  H.  SEWARD,  Secretary  of  State. 

REV.  DR.  M'PHEETERS — THE  PRESIDENT'S  REPLY  TO  AN  AP- 
PEAL TOR  INTERFERENCE. 

EXECUTIVE  MANSION, 
WASHINGTON,  December  23,  1863. 

I  have  just  looked  over  a  petition  signed  by  some  three 
dozen  citizens  of  St.  Louis,  and  their  accompanying  letters,  one 
by  yourself,  one  by  a  Mr.  Nathan  Eanney,  and  one  by  a  Mr. 
John  D.  Coalter,  the  whole  relating  to  the  Rev.  Dr.  McPhee- 
ters.  The  petition  prays,  in  the  name  of  justice  and  mercy, 
that  I  will  restore  Dr.  McPheeters  to  all  his  ecclesiastical 
rights. 

This  gives  no  intimation  as  to  what  ecclesiastical  rights  are 
withdrawn.  Your  letter  states  that  Provost  Marshal  Dick,  about 
a  year  ago,  ordered  the  arrest  of  Dr.  McPheeters,  pastor  of  the 
Vine-street  Church,  prohibited  him  from  officiating,  and  placed 
the  management  of  affairs  of  the  church  out  of  the  control  of 
the  chosen  trustees;  and  near  the  close  you  state  that  a  certain 
course  "would  insure  his  release."  Mr.  Ranney's  letter  says : 
"Dr.  Samuel  McPheeters  is  enjoying  all  the  rights  of  a  civilian, 
but  can  not  preach  the  gospel ! "  Mr.  Coalter,  in  his  letter, 
asks :  "  Is  it  not  a  strange  illustration  of  the  condition  of 
things,  that  the  question  who  shall  be  allowed  to  preach  in  a 
church  in  St.  Louis  shall  be  decided  by  the  President  of  tho 
United  States?" 


516  APPENDIX. 

Now,  all  this  sounds  very  strangely;  and,  withal,  a  little  as 
if  you  gentlemen  making  the  application  do  not  understand 
the  case  alike — one  affirming  that  this  doctor  is  enjoying  all 
the  rights  of  a  civilian,  and  another  pointing  out  to  me  what 
will  secure  his  release!  On  the  2d  of  January  last,  I  wrote  to 
Gen.  Curtis  in  relation  to  Mr.  Dick's  order  upon  Dr.  Mc- 
Pheeters  ;  and,  as  I  suppose  the  Doctor  is  enjoying  all  the  rights 
of  a  civilian,  I  only  quote  that  part  of  my  letter  which  relates 
to  the  church.  It  was  as  follows  :  "  But  I  must  add  that  the 
United  States  Government  must  not,  as  by  this  order,  undertake 
to  run  the  churches.  When  an  individual,  in  a  church  or  out 
of  it,  becomes  dangerous  to  the  public  interest,  he  must  be 
checked;  but  the  churches,  as  such,  must  take  care  of  them- 
selves. It  will  not  do  for  the  United  States  to  appoint  trustees, 
supervisors,  or  other  agents  for  the  churches." 

This  letter  going  to  Gen.  Curtis,  then  in  command,  I  sup- 
posed, of  course,  it  was  obeyed,  especially  as  I  heard  no  further 
complaint  from  Dr.  Me.  or  his  friends  for  nearly  an  entire 
year.  I  have  never  interfered,  nor  thought  of  interfering,  as  to 
who  shall  or  shall  not  preach  in  any  church ;  nor  have  I  know- 
ingly or  believingly  tolerated  any  one  else  to  interfere  by  iny 
authority.  If  any  one  is  so  interfering  by  color  of  my  author- 
ity, I  would  like  to  have  it  specifically  made  known  to  me. 

If,  after  all,  what  is  now  sought  is  to  have  me  put  Dr. 
Me.  back  over  the  heads  of  a  majority  of  his  own  congregation, 
that,  too,  will  be  declined.  I  will  not  have  control  of  any  church 
or  any  side.  A.  LINCOLN. 

AN  ELECTION  ORDERED  IN  THE  STATE  OP  ARKANSAS. 

EXECUTIVE  MANSION,     ") 
WASHINGTON,  January  20,  1864.  j 

Maj.  Gen.  STEELE  :  Sundry  citizens  of  the  State  of  Arkansas 
petition  me  that  an  election  may  be  held  in  t,hat  State,  at  which 
to  elect  a  Governor;  that  it  be  assumed  at  that  election,  and 
henceforward,  that  the  Constitution  and  laws  of  the  State,  as 
before  the  rebellion,  are  in  full  force,  except  that  the  Constitu- 
tion is  so  modified  as  to  declare  that  there  shall  be  neither 
slavery  nor  involuntary  servitude,  except  in  the  punishment  of 
crimes  whereof  the  party  shall  have  been  duly  convicted ;  that 
the  General  Assembly  may  make  such  provisions  for  the  freed 
people  as  shall  recognize  and  declare  their  permanent  freedom, 
and  provide  for  their  education,  and  which  may  yet  be  con- 
strued as  a  temporary  arrangement,  suitable  to  their  condition 
as  a  laboring,  landless,  and  homeless  class  ;  that  saitl  election 
shall  be  held  on  the  28th  of  March,  18G1,  at  all  the  usual 


APPENDIX.  617 

places  of  the  State,  or  all  such  as  voters  may  attend  for  that 
purpose  ;  that  the  voters  attending  at  8  o'clock  in  the  morning 
of  said  day  may  choose  judges  and  clerks  of  election  for  such 
purpose ;  that  all  persons  qualified  by  said  Constitution  and 
laws,  and  taking  the  oath  presented  in  the  President's  procla- 
mation of  December  8,  1863,  either  before  or  at  the  election, 
and  none  others,  may  be  voters  ;  that  each  set  of  judges  and 
clerks  may  make  returns  directly  to  you  on  or  before  the  — th 

day  of next ;  that  in  all  other  respects  said  election  may 

be  conducted  according  to  said  Constitution  and  laws  ;  that  on 
receipt  of  said  returns,  when  5,406  votes  shall  have  been  cast, 
you  can  receive  said  votes  and  ascertain  all  who  shall  thereby 

appear  to  have  been  elected  ;  that  on  the  — th  day  of next, 

all  persons  so  appearing  to  have  been  elected,  who  shall  appear 
before  you  at  Little  Rock,  and  take  the  oath,  to  be  by  you  sev- 
erally administered,  to  support  the  Constitution  of  the  United 
States,  and  said  modified  Constitution  of  the  State  of  Arkansas, 
may  be  declared  by  you  qualified  and  empowered  to  immedi- 
ately enter  upon  the  duties  of  the  offices  to  which  they  shall 
have  been  respectively  elected. 

You  will  please  order  an  election  to  take  place  on  the  28th 
of  March,  1864,  and  returns  to  be  made  in  fifteen  days  there- 
after. A.  LINCOLN. 

Later,  the  President  wrote  the  following  letter : 

WILLIAM  FISHBACK,  Esq.:  When  I  fixed  a  plan  for  an  elec- 
tion in  Arkansas,  I  did  it  in  ignorance  that  your  Convention 
was  at  the  same  work.  Since  I  learned  the  latter  fact,  I  have 
been  constantly  trying  to  yield  my  plan  to  theirs.  I  have  sent 
two  letters  to  Gen.  Steele,  and  three  or  four  dispatches  to  you 
and  others,  saying  that  he  (Gen.  Steele)  must  be  master,  but 
that  it  will  probably  be  best  for  him  to  keep  the  Convention  on 
its  own  plan.  Some  single  mind  must  be  master,  else  there  will 
be  no  agreement  on  any  thing;  and  Gen.  Steele,  commanding 
the  military,  and  being  on  the  ground,  is  the  best  man  to  be 
that  master.  Even  now  citizens  are  telegraphing  me  to  post- 
pone the  election  to  a  later  day  than  either  fixed  by  the  Conven- 
tion or  me.  This  discord  must  be  silenced.  A.  LINCOLN. 

THE  PRESIDENT'S  PROCLAMATION  or  THE  STH  OF  DECEMBER, 

1863 — EXPLANATION — CASES   DEFINED. 

BY  THE   PRESIDENT   OT   TUB   UNITED   STATES   Ot  AMERICA — A   PROCLAMATION. 

WHEREAS,  It  has  become  necessary  to  define  the  cases  in 
which  insurgent  enemies  are  entitled  to  the  benefits  of  the 
Proclamation  of  the  President  of  the  United  States,  which  was 
made  on  the  eighth  day  of  December,  1863,  and  the  manner  in 


518  APPENDIX. 

which  they  shall  proceed  to  avail  themselves  of  these  benefits ; 
and  whereas,  the  objects  of  that  proclamation  were  to  suppress 
the  insurrection  and  to  restore  the  authority  of  the  United 
States  ;  and  whereas,  the  amnesty  therein  proposed  by  the 
President  was  offered  with  reference  to  these  objects  alone  ; 

Now,  therefore,  I,  Abraham  Lincoln,  President  of  the  United 
States,  do  hereby  proclaim  and  declare  that  the  said  proclama- 
tion does  not  apply  to  the  cases  of  persons  who,  at  the  time 
when  they  seek  to  obtain  the  benefits  thereof  by  taking  the 
oath  thereby  prescribed,  are  in  military,  naval,  or  civil  confine- 
ment or  custody,  or  under  bonds,  or  on  parole  of  the  civil,  mili- 
tary or  naval  authorities,  or  agents  of  the  United  States,  as 
prisoners  of  war,  or  persons  detained  for  offenses  of  any  kind, 
either  before  or  after  conviction  ;  and  that,  on  the  contrary,  it 
does  apply  only  to  those  persons  who,  being  yet  at  large,  and 
free  from  any  arrest,  confinement,  or  duress,  shall  voluntarily 
come  forward  and  take  the  said  oath,  with  the  purpose  of  re- 
storing peace  and  establishing  the  National  authority. 

Persons  excluded  from  the  amnesty  offered  in  the  said  pro- 
clamation may  apply  to  the  President  for  clemency,  like  all 
other  offenders,  and  their  application  will  receive  due  consid- 
eration. 

I  do  further  declare  and  proclaim  that  the  oath  presented  in 
the  aforesaid  proclamation  of  the  8th  of  December,  1863,  may 
be  taken  and  subscribed  before  any  commissioned  officer,  civil, 
military,  or  naval,  in  the  service  of  the  United  States,  or  any 
civil  or  military  officer  of  a  State  or  Territory  not  in  insurrec- 
tion, who,  by  the  laws  thereof,  may  be  qualified  for  administer- 
ing oaths. 

All  officers  who  receive  such  oaths  are  hereby  authorized  to 
give  certificates  thereof  to  the  persons  respectively  by  whom 
they  are  made,  and  such  officers  are  hereby  required  to  trans- 
mit the  original  records  of  such  oaths,  at  as  early  a  day  as  may 
be  convenient,  to  the  Department  of  State,  where  they  will  be 
deposited,  and  remain  in  the  archives  of  the  Government. 

The  Secretary  of  State  will  keep  a  registry  thereof,  and  will, 
on  application,  in  proper  cases,  issue  certificates  of  such  records 
in  the  customary  form  of  official  certificates. 

In  testimony  whereof,  I  have  hereunto  set  my  hand,  and  caused 
the  seal  of  the  United  States  to  be  affixed. 

Done  at  the  city  of  Washington,  the  twenty-sixth  day 
of  March,  in  the  year  of  our  Lord  one  thousand  eight 
[L.  S.]  hundred  and  sixty-four,  and  of  the  Independence  of 
the  United  States  the  eighty-eighth. 

By  the  President :  ABRAHAM  LINCOLN. 

WILLIAM  H.  SEWARD,  Secretary  of  Stat€. 


PUBLICATIONS  OF  MOOEE,  WILSTAOH  &  BALDWIN. 

BAYARD  TAYLOR'S 

CYCLOPEDIA  OF  MODERN  TRAVEL. 

A.  Record  of  Adventure,  Exploration  and  Discovery  for  the  past  fifty  years.  Comprising  Narra- 
tive! of  the  most  distinguished  Travelers  since  the  leginning  of  this  Century.  Prepared  and 
arranged  by  Bayard  Taylor.  1  volume,  royal  8co.  1034  pp.  Embellished  with  fine  portrait* 
on  steel  by  Butlre,  and  illustrated  by  over  sixty  wood  engravings  ly  Orr,  and  thirteen  authentic 
Maps  by  Schonberg.  Sold  by  canvassing  agents  only. 

A  magnificent  octavo  volume,  which,  for  general  interest  and  value,  is  worthy  of  the  dis- 
tinguished compiler,  and  equally  worthy  of  universal  patronage.  The  volnme  really  con- 
tains the  value  of  a  whole  library,  reliable  as  a  book  of  reference,  and  as  interesting  as  a 
book  of  romance. — Springfield  (Mass.)  Republican. 

The  popular  lectures  and  writings  of  Bayard  Taylor,  have  awakened  in  the  United  States 
a  thirst  foj  information  respecting  foreign  countries  and  nations.  A  striking  proof  of  this 
is  given  in  the  fact  that  a  publishing  house  in  Cincinnati  have  issued,  under  the  auspices  of 
Bayard  Taylor,  a  volume  of  uearly  one  thousand  pp.,  devoted  exclusively  to  records  of  travel. 
These  Reports  are  perfectly  reliable ;  the  matters  of  fact  of  each  explorer,  often  in  his  own 
language,  are  condensed  iuto  a  consecutive  narrative,  by  the  most  competent  living  author 
in  the  same  department. — New  York  Independent.  j 

The  reading  public  owes  to  Bayard  Taylor  many  a  debt  for  rare  and  vnluable  instruction 
most  agreeably  conveyed  ;  but  we  doubt  if  he  ever  performed  a  more  useful  service  than  in 
compiling  this  massive,  varied  and  most  valuable  volnme.  The  entire  circle  of  books  of 
which  he  has  given  the  spiiit  and  juice,  would  form  a  library  ;  and  many  of  them  are  now 
almost  inaccessible.  Mr.  Taylor's  part  has  been  conscientiously  done,  "it  is  not  merely  a 
work  of  selection  and  groupings ;  much  of  it  is  his  own  statement  of  the  results  more 
voluminously  given,  and  written  in  a  clear  and  elegant  style.  We  can  not  but  regard  it  as 
a  very  useful  as  well  as  entertaining  work,  well  adapted  to  communicate  accurate  and  com- 
prehensive views  of  the  world,  and  supplying  for  families  an  almost  inexhaustible  fund  of 
pleasant  reading.— Xew  York  Evangelist. 

No  writer  of  the  present  age  can.  be  found  so  admirably  qualified  for  such  an  undertak- 
ing.— Louisville  Journal. 

Such  is  the  full  title-page  of  a  magnificent  octavo  volume  of  1034  pages,  jvut  issued.  .  . 
.  We  said  "a  magnificent  octavo/1  It  is  so  whether  we  consider  its  contents,  or  the 
superb  style  in  which  the  publishers  have  gotten  it  up.  It  is  just  the  book  for  the  family 
library  ;  all  classes  will  be  interested  in  its  perusal. — Ladies'  Repository. 

The  conception  of  this  work  is  admirable ;  and  its  execution  is  what  might  be  expected 
from  one  of  the  most  accomplished  and  intelligent  travelers  of  the  age.  .  .  It  is  remarkable 
for  its  compactness,  condensation  and  symmetry  ;  and  whoever  will  take  the  time  to  read  it 
through,  will  possess  himself  of  an  amount  of  information,  in  respect  to  the  physical,  intel- 
lectual, and  moral  couditition  of  almost  every  portion  of  the  globe,  which  he  can  scarcely 
expect  to  find  elsewhere.  The  work  is  illustrated  with  a  large  number  of  maps  and  engrav- 
ings, which  are  executed  with  great  skill  and  care,  and  add  much  to  the  interest  of  the  nar- 
ratives to  which  they  are  prefixed. — Puritan  Recorder.  I 

Mr.  Bayard  Taylor  is  the  very  Ulysses  of  modern  tourists,  and  Emperor  Adrian  of  living 
ramblers — and  so  is  qualified  to  edit,  or  compile,  from  the  works  of  other  travelers.  .  .  . 
It  is  but  the  merest  justice  to  say,  that  Mr.  Taylor  has-done  all  that  even  an  uneasily  satis- 
fied reader  could  expect,  to  produce  a  capital  book. — Boston  Chronicle. 

Apart  from  the  confidence  inspired  by  the  name  of  the  writer,  it  needs  but  a  brief  oxpla- 
nati  jn  of  its  contents  to  show  that  it  forms  a  highly  important  addition  to  the  family  library. 
Its  pages  are  crowded  with  interesting  information. — Ifev  York  Tribune, 
from  Professor  C.   C.  Fellon,  of  Harvard  University. 

A  scholar,  traveler  and  writer,  having  a  reputation  so  deservedly  high  in  this  thtee-fold 
relation  as  Bayard  Taylor,  may  be  presumed  to  give  his  name  only  to  works  worthy  of  it. 
The  present  volume  I  have  examined  carefully,  and  have  read  a  considerable  part  of  it ;  and 
I  have  found-  it  prepared  and  arranged  with  excellent  judgment,  and  filled  with  matter  of 
the  highest  interest  and  value.  Both  the  plan  and  execution  are,  in  my  judgment,  marked 
by  ability,  extensive  knowledge,  good  taste,  and  good  sense. 

from  Oliver  Wendell  Holmes,  3f.  D.,  Author  of  the  "Autocrat  of  the  Breakfast  Table,"  etc. 

Mr.  Bayard  Taylor  has  done  the  reading  public  a  great  favor  in  bringing  together  the 
most  essential  and  interesting  portions  of  so  many  narratives  within  a  very  moderate  com- 
pass, and  in  such  form  a»  to  be  accessible  to  multitudes  whoso  libraries  must  take  little 
room  and  cost  but  moderate  expenditure.  It  is  safe  to  say  that  no  man's  selection  would  be 
accepted  so  unhesitatingly  in  America  as  those  of  our  own  favorite  travel  story-teller. 

From  Hon.  Robert  C.  Winthrop,  of  Boston,  formerly  Speaker  House  of  Representatives,  V.  S. 

I  have  examined  it  with  great  interest.  It  contains  a  large  amount  of  entertaining  and 
Instructive  matter,  very  conveniently  and  carefully  arranged  ;  and  I  shall  value  it  aa  a  work 
both  for  present  reading  and  future  reference. 


PUBLICATIONS  OF  MOOEE,  WILSTAOH  &  BALDWIH. 

THE  SCIENCE  OF  EDUCATION; 


One  Volume,  12mo.,  480  pp.    Price,  g 

It  is  proper  to  gay  that  Mr.  Ogden  has,  for  many  years,  been  engaged  almost  exclusively 
with  Teachers  and  in  Normal  Schools. 

NOTICES. 

From  the  Rev.  Wm.  Russell,  Stale  Educational  Lecturer,  Massachusetts. 

The  truly  philosophical  and  thoroughly  practical  methods  of  early  culture,  suggested  to 
the  primary  teacher,  if  faithfully  acted  on,  would  make  our  elementary  schools  scenes  of  the 
most  attractive  and  delightful,  as  well  aa  instructive,  occupation  for  childhood. 

From  Wm.  F.  Phelpt,  A.  M.,  Principal  of  the  New  Jersey  Stale  Normal  Schools. 
Ny  Dear  Sir :  Allow  me  to  say  that,  in  my  humble  judgment,  you  have  struck  the  right 
vein,  both  in  the  conception  and  execution  of  your  ideas  regarding  the  Philosophy  of  Teach- 
ing. You  afford  a  splendid  contribution  to  our  limited  means  for  the  training  of  Teachers. 
A  good  scholar  merely  has  fulfilled  only  one  of  the  conditions  essential  to  a  good  educator. 
What  we  most  need  is  a  clear  elucidation  and  a  scientific  classification  of  the  principles  of 
education,  so  that  they  may  be  mastered  and  applied  to  the  rearing  and  training  of  rational 
and  immortal  beings.  I  need  not  assure  you  that  this  task  you  have,  according  to  my  no- 
tions, most  happily  executed.  The  application  of  diagrams  to  the  work  seems  to  me  to  bo  a 
happy  thought,  addressing  the  subject  to  that  most  perfect  of  all  senses,  the  sense  of  sight. 

From  Cyrus  Knowlion,  Esq.,  Principal  of  Hughes  High  School,  Cincinnati. 

It  is  by  far  the  best  work  of  the  kind  with  which  I  am  acquainted. 

From  A.  J.  Rickojf,  late  Superintendent  of  Cincinnati  Public  Schools. 

MESSRS.  MOORE,  WILSTACH  4  BALDWIN  :  I  have  given  attention  to  every  work  announced 
In  England  or  this  country,  treating  upon  this  subject;  and  I  may  say,  without  hesitation, 
that  Mr.  Ogden's  treatise  is,  in  its  conception  and  arrangement,  the  mott  scientific  nmoug 
them  all.  It  can  not  be  read  by  the  teacher  without  great  practical  advantage  ;  it  will  pre- 
pare him  for  the  business  of  the  schoolroom  ;  it  will  give  new  direction  to  his  spec::latious ; 
it  will,  I  believe,  greatly  assist  to  establish  the  business  of  teaching  as  a  profession. 

Schoolmasters  owe  it  to  themselves  and  their  profession,  to  give  this  book  a  circulation 
never  yet  reached  by  any  of  a  similar  character.  Its  use  should  not  be  confined  to  teachers 
alone.  It  should  find  a  place  in  the  library  of  every  family,  as  the  most  valuable  contribu- 
tion yet  made  in  our  language  for  the  advancement  of  education. 

OGDEN  ON  EDUCATION, 

Is  a  very  full  and  systematic  work  on  the  general  subject  of  education,  full  of  suggestiva 
thoughts,  tersely  expressed.  They  deserve  and  demand  proper  consideration,  seasoned  by 
that  confidence  in  their  author  which  his  evident  carefulness  and  experience  beget. — Rhode 
Island  Schoolmaster. 

Is  just  the  hand-took  for  teachers  who  intend  to  be  thorough  and  foremost  in  their  pro- 
fession. Intelligent  parents  would  find  it  an  interesting  and  valuable  aid  in  the  hours  when 
they  "  ponder  in  their  hearts  "  how  to  bring  up  children.— Toronto  (C.  W.)  Colonist. 

A  very  elaborate,  philosophical,  and  thorough  work  on  a  great  subject,  too  much  over- 
looked by  thinking  men.  .  .  Must  be  immensely  valuable  to  every  parent  and  teacher. — 
A'.  Y.  Observer. 

Contains,  in  a  single  volume,  a  great  deal  of  valuable  material.  The  whole  subject  of 
human  culture  is  laid  before  the  reader,  and  treated  in  simple,  yet  comprehensive  language. 
.  .  .  Parents  and  teachers  should  be  induced  to  study  this  excellent  work. — Massacliu- 
letts  Teacher. 

Has  many  features,  both  novel  and  ingenious,  which  entitle  it  to  consideration  as  an 
original  work.— Xew  York  Century. 

Enters  very  fully  and  closely  into  the  philosophy  of  teaching.— Philadelphia  Press. 

Is  a  sound,  judicious  and  original  work.  It  does  not  deal  in  commonly-rcceivc-d  notions, 
but  renlly  enters  into  the  profound  themes,  upon  which  it  treats  with  great  strength  of 
thought,  keenness  of  perception,  and  practical  skill. — Zion's  Herald,  Boston. 

It  is  the  only  work  extant  that  can  pretend  to  a  full  and  complete  system  of  instruction. 
Mnch  has  previously  been  written  on  the  subject  that  is  valuable,  which  has  failed,  however, 
in  a  great  measure,  to  become  available,  because  of  the  absence  of  system,  and  a  failure  even 
to  recognize  a  systematic  arrangement  as  a  desideratum.  Mr.  Ogdeu  approximates  more 
nearly  a  scientific  treatment  of  his  subject  than  any  author  we  have  met. — I<*ta  Instructor 
and  School  Journal. 


PUBLICATIONS  OF  MOOEE,  WILSTACH  &  BALDWIN 


RUFUS  CHOATE'S  FAVORITE  AUTHOR  ON  RHETORIC. 

A  SUCCESSFUL  NEW  SCHOOL  BOOK. 

-RHETORICAL  PRAXIS: 

The  principles  of  Rhetoric  Exemplified  and  Applied  in  Copious  Exercises  for  Systematic 
Practice,  chiefly  in  the  Development  of  Thought. 

BY  HENRY  W.  WAY,  A.  31., 

Author  of  "  The  Art  of  Elocution/'  and  of  "  Elements  of  the  Art  of  Rhetoric."    One  rol- 
. .'  2  u.-nc,  12mo.,  309  pages.    Price,  75  cents. 


From  the  Snperintendent  of  Circleville  (0.)  Public  Schooli. 

I  have  examined  it  carefully,  and  with  much  satisfaction.  I  believe  it  is  a  most  excellent 
work,  and  needs  only  to  be  known  to  secure  for  it  an  introduction  into  all  our  High  Schools. 
We  have  adopted  it  as  a  text-book.  Respectfully  yours,  JOHN  LYNCH. 

From  Oir,  New  TorJ;  Independent. 

Tbe  design  of  this  work  is  to  train  the  pupil  in  the  principles  of  Rhetoric  as  applied  to 
the  unfolding  of  thought ;  so  that  Rhetoric,  instead  of  an  artificial  code  of  rules,  is  a  philo- 


Bophicul  outgrowth  of  ideas  and  the  principles  of  language.     The  plan  is  excellent,  and  the 

'  upil  ' 

get  at  the  theme  or  proposition  to  be  stated ;   and  then 
priate  words.     Prof.  Day  brings  to  his  task  philosophical  judgment,  refined  tastamnd  urac- 


yarious  exercises  are  prepared  with  judgment  and  skill.     The  pupil  is  taught  to  analyze  his 
idea* ;    to  get  at  the  theme  or  proposition  to  be  stated  ;   and  then  to  frame  this  in  appro- 


tical  experience.     His  work  should  become  a  text-book  in  all  schools,  in  lieu  of  the  cus- 
tomary exercises  in  composition. 

From  tJif  New  F»g?an<Jer,  \otvmbvr,  1860. 

Rhetorical  Praxis.— Books  of  Rhetorical  Praxis  are  usually  the  dullest  and  most  unprofit- 
able of  all  text-books.  The  ingenious  ;ii;tlu>r  of  this  volume  has  certainly  proposed  to  him- 
self .the  true  ideal  to  be  accomplished  in  teaching  Rhetoric  ;  for  he  would  teach  his  pupil  to 
write  by  teaching  him  to  think.  W<5  believe  thU  book  to  be  superior  to  any  other  of  the 
kind,  and  to  have  the  highest  claim  upon  practical  teachers  for  a  trial,  for  its  thoroughness, 
Its  comprehensiveness,  as  well  as  for  the  great  iugeuuity  and  skill  with  which  it  has  been 
prepared.  We  recommend  it  most  cordially  to  teachers. 

From  the  Educational  Repository  and  Family  Monthly,  Atlanta,  Georgia. 
It  is  a  thoroughly  practical  treatise  for  developing  the  art  of  discourse  upon  a  true  idea. 
Almost  all  systems  of  Rhetoric  which  are  in  common  use  in  the  Euglish  language,  proceed 
upon  the  idea  that  style  is  every  thing,  and  pay  but  little  attention  to  the  thought  itself. 
This  work  just  reverses  the=e  plans,  goes  back  to  the  systems  of  the  Greek  fathers  in  Rhet- 
oric, and  tiuds  the  true  doctrine  in  the  fact  so  well  stated  by  Daniel  Webster,  that  "  all  true 
power  in  writing  is  in  the  idea,  not  in  thn  stylo,"  and  that  the  first  of  all  requisite*,  a«  Sir 
Walter  j^coU  observes,  is  in  "  having  something  to  say."  The  "  Development  of  the  Thought" 
is  the  basis  ;  and  when  the  tbougttt  stand*  out  i:i  all  its  wcll-b'.iilt  proportions,  the  drapery 
of'-style  is  thrown  around  it.  We  haven't  space  to  give  as  thorough  a  notice  of  this  work 
as  we  feel  inclined  to  do.  No  better  book  can  U-  placed  in  the  hands  of  young  students  in 
our  male  colleges.  It  should  be  closely  studied  by  every  >'reshuian  class  in  every  college, 
and  in  all  tlie  high  schools  in  this  country.  If  a  teacher  can  not  succeed  in  teaching  the  art 
of  composition  with  this  work,  he  need  try  no  other.  More  than  five  hundred  themes  are 
given  ii;  the  latter  part,  adapted -to  all  grades  and  classes.  We  sincerely  wish  we  could  have 
had  this  book  years  ago. 

from  tiie  Xew  York  Observer,  Xovemler,  18tiO. 

This  work  is  truly  p.-icntinc  and  practical.  Ir  seizes  the  old  idea  of  intention,  unfolded 
by  both  Aristotle  and  Cicero,  and  develops  it  in  t!ie  light  of  modern  metaphysics,  and  thus 
illuminates  it  and  adapts  it  to  the  present  aualysi-  of  the.  mental  powers.  It  is,  to  all  intents 
and  purposes,  the  art  of  thinking,  rather  than  of  writing.  It  makes  thought  the  pedestal- 
style  the  shaft ;  ideas  tin-  soul,  and  body,  ton,  of  composition  ;  style  the  mere  habiliments— 
the  having  something  to  say— tho  motive  power— the  manner  of  saying  it— the  mere  ma- 
chinery, in  one  case  characterized  by  strength,  in  another  by  grace,  beauty  and  polish. 

The  object  of  the  Praxis,  then,  is  to  induct  the  pupil  into  the  habit  of  thought,  to  teach 
him  to  select  an  object  or  subject  cu  which  he  shall  fix  his  mental  powers,  and  then  put 
down,  without  regard  «t  first  to  style,  just  the  ideas  arising  in  his  own  mind,  as  he  carefull/ 
and  continuously  beholds  or  contemplates  the  object. 

Let  teachers  try  it ;  they  will  not  be  disappointed.     It  la  au  aid  in  tho  right  direction. 


PUBLICATIONS  OP  MOORE,  WILSTACH  St  BALDWIN. 

— — 

ORIOLA.; 

A  New  and  Complete  Hymn  and  Tune  Book  for  Sabbath 
Schools. 

BY   WILLIAM    B.    BRADBURY.     Author  of  "  The  Shawm,"  "  The   Ju- 
bilee," "  Singing-Bird,"  "  Sabbath-School  Choir,"  etc. 

From  the  Xew  York  Observer. 

This  is  a  large  collection  of  Hymns  and  Tunes,  admirably  adapted  to  the  rise  of  Sabbath 
Schools  and  all  occasions  for  social  singing  among  the  young.  The  tunes  are  judiciously 
selected,  comprising  a  large  number  of  those  which  are  favorites  with  the  childreu,  and 
altogether  it  is  the  most  complete  work  ef  the  kind  that  we  have  ever  seen. 

From  the  New  York  Evangelist,  September. 

One  of  the  mofit  attractive  features  of  the  Sabbath  School,  next  after,  and  sometimes  even 
before  that  of  the  library,  is  the  singing.  To  improve  this,  and  to  make  it  the  channel  for 
conveying  truth,  in  the  beautiful  form  of  hymns,  to  the  young  mind,  is  a  noble  aim.  The 
author  has  essayed  to  meet  thu  object,  and  has  furnished  us  with  a  volume  containing  not 
far  from  SCO  hymns  and  tunes.  \Vc  have  been  much  pleased  with  the  tasteful  and  judicious 
manner  in  which  the  .ask  has  been  executed. 

From  the  Neie  York  Century,  September. 

•Hie  object  of  this  hook  is  to  raise  and  vary  the  character  of  music  and  singing,  which  are 
Important  elements  in  Sabbath  School  tuition.  All  the  melodies  it  contains  have  been  well 
eelected,  and  are  associated  with  pure  and  elevated  ideas.  Simple  directions  are  given  for 
the  learning  of  new  tunes.  We  can  Bafely  recommend  it  to  the  attention  of  teachers  and 
learners  of  singing  classes. 

£  From  the  Presbyterian  Herald,  Louisville. 

Oviola. — \Ve  hare  received  from  the  Publishers  a  copy  of  a  little  Hymn  and  Tune  Rook  for 
Sabbath  Schools,  by  AVin.  B.  Bradbury,  with  the  above  title.  For  several  reasons  we  deem  it 
the  best  that  we  have  seen,  and  cordially  recommend  it.  1st.  It  is  the  best  and  has  the 
greatest  variety  of  tunes,  having  £.";0  piiges  and  nearly  200  tunes.  £d.  There  are  several  sets 
of  words  to  each  tune,  thus  keeping  it  fresh  for  a  longer  time.  3d.  The  selection  of  both 
words  and  tunes  is  altogether  the  best  we  know  of.  4th.  It  contains  many  of  the  good  old 
church  tunes  and  hymns  which  should- be  taught  to  Sabbath  Schools,  as  well  as  the  peculiar 
Sabbath  School  tunes.  It  contains,  viz.:  Ortonville,  Laban,  I3alerma,  Zephyr,  Jlartyn, 
Hebron,  Duke  Street,  Old  Hundred,  and  the  like.  This  is  a  very  great  recommendation, 
aiding,  as  it  does,  the  much-coveted,  yet  rare  congregational  singing. 

Fi-o,r.  Oie  Christian  Times,  Chica-ju. 

•'  OBIOI.A  "  contains  a  fine  selection  of  Tunes  and  Hymns,  specially  adapted  for  Sunday 
Schools.  Host  of  the  good  popular  Sunday  School  melodies  of  the  present  day  are  inserted, 
•while  a  large  number  of  new  pieces  have  been  composed  expressly  fcr  this  work.  "  Animated, 
but  not  boisterous  ;  gentle,  but  not  <1UI  or  tame  "  are  directions  that  will  apply  to  mort 
of  the  compositions  in  this  book. 

Ffom  the  Central  Christian  Herald. 

It  contains  those  pieces  which  have  been  sung  with  such  interest  and  effect  at  Sabbath 
School  meetings  and  1'iiion  mrptiiifs  of  various  kinds  for  a  few  yours  past.  In  addition  to 
these  choice  old  friends,  Mr.  Bradbury  presents  to  us  some  of  his  best  music,  composed 
expressly  for  this  work.  It  is  undoubtedly  the  Sabbath  School  Hymn  and  Tune  Book  of  our 
day,  and  must  come  at  once  into  general  use. 

POMEROY,  OHIO,  September. 

In  my  judgment  as  a  musician,  after  twenty  years'  experience,  I  have  never  seen  as  good 
a  book  for  Sabbath  School  children.  Yours,  respectfully,  A.  W.  WILLIAMB. 

Rev.  W.  C.  VAN  METER,  of  the  Fourth  Ward  Mission,  New  Tork,  for  several  years,  and, 
until  very  recently,  connected  with  the  Fire  Points  Mission,  writes  to  the  publishers: 

"  Success  to  the  '  Oriola  1 '  The  more  I  see  of  it  the  better  I  like  it.  I  wish  all  my  favor- 
ites were  in  it ;  but  as  it  ia,  the  book  is  the  best  now  out." 

From  T.  J.  Tone,  Principal  George  Street  Public  School. 

CINCINNATI,  October. 

Dear  Sir:  In  your  "Oriola"  I  find  a  large  collection  of  gems,  well  adapted  to  meet  the 
wants  of  our  Sunday  Schools.  We  have  had  it  in  use  nearly  two  month*,  and  have  becu 
delighted  in  rehearsing  its  contents.  Children  love  music  that  is  cheerful,  lively  and  flow- 
ing. Their  young  and  fervent  affections  feed  upon  that  which  is  passionate  ni:d  jubilant. 
Among  the  characteristics  of  your  book,  I  am  happy  to  find  thcso  very  marked. 
Yours,  truly. 


PUBLICATIONS  OF  MOOBE,  WILSTAOH  &  BALDWIN 

THE  WHEAT  PLANT: 

lit  Origin,  Culture,  Growth,  Development,  Competition,  Varieliet,  Diteaiti,  etc.  ;  together  icith  a 
Chapter  on  Indian  Corn,  itt  Culture,  etc.  By  JOHK  H.  KLIPPAKT,  Corresponding  Secretary 
ef  the  Ohio  State  Board  of  Agriculture.  One  hundred  niuttrationt.  One  volume  12mo.,  pp. 
706.  Price,  $1  60. 

From  the  Cincinnati  Commercial. 

No  work  in  the  language  will  be  found  to  equal  it  in  the  complete,  thorough  discussion 
of  the  great  cereal  in  its  entire  history.  The  book  ought  to  be  considered  indispensable  to 
every  farmer,  and  will  be  an  addition  to  the  library  of  every  intelligent  merchant  a»  well 
as  devotee  to  science. 

From  the  MilvauJtee  Daily  Wisconsin. 

We  have  read  it  with  profit  and  interest.  It  should  be  placed  in  the  bands  of  every  farmer 
In  Wisconsin.  Ohio  is  one  of  the  best  wheat-growing  States  of  the  Union  ;  yet  the  averoga 
of  wheat  to  the  acre  has  declined  from  twenty-five  bushels  to  thirteen  —  all  for  the  want  of 
cultivation  by  artificial  stimulants  and  manures.  In  England  the  crop  has  been  more  than 
doubled,  until  it  now  averages  thirty-six  bushels  to  the  acre.  This  ha*  been  accomplished 
by  the  closest  attention  to  the  wants  of  the  soil. 

From  the  Kew  York  Tribune. 

Th«  author  of  this  instructive  treatise  has  employed  the  labor  of  many  yean  to  a  thor- 
ough investigation  of  the  important  plant  to  which  it  is  devoted.  A  minute  and  accurate 
knowledge  of  the  subject  is  exhibited  on  every  page,  and  its  fullness  of  detail,  clearness  of 
illustration,  and  variety  of  information,  must  at  once  elevate  it  to  the  rank  of  a  stau- 
dard  authority. 

From  the  Iowa  State  Democrat. 

It  would  occupy  too  much  space  to  go  into  a  general  review  of  this  truly  valuable  work, 
but  we  must  content  ourselves  with  a  few  brief  sentences  taken  at  random.  .  .  .  It  U 
highly  important  that  it  should  be  in  the  hands  of  every  farmer  in  the  Union. 

From  the  Louitville  Journal. 

The  above  is  a  work  of  over  seven  hundred  pages,  comprehending  all  that  is  known  aa  to 
the  physiology,  culture,  varieties,  diseases,  etc.,  of  the  wheat  plant.  The  first  comprehen- 
tive  t  realise  ever  produced  in  this  country  ou  this  subject,  and  perhaps  the  most  thorough 
work  on  the  subject  ever  published.  ..... 

From  the  Cleveland  Morning  Leader. 

The  importance  to  fanners  and  all  agriculturists  of  such  a  book  as  this,  written  with 
great  care  by  such  an  author,  can  not  be  too  highly  estimated.  The  Wheat  crop  is  the 
great  crop  of  the  West.  .  .  .  Mr.  Klippart,  from  hia  widely-extended  acquaint- 
ance with  eminent  and  practical  agriculturists,  has  abundant  means  for  comparing  note* 
and  making  practical  observations,  which  his  abilities  as  an  author  enable  him  to  present, 
In  the  most  beneficial  manner,  to  those  interested.  ....  Every  farmer 
ihould  have  a  copy  of  this  invaluable  work.  It  will  amply  repay  its  cost. 

From  the  Davenport  Daily  Gazette. 

This  work  has  been  prepared  with  great  care  by  a  man  perhaps  better  qualified  for  tha 
task  than  any  other  person  in  the  country.  He  has  produced  a  work  which  should  be  in 
the  hands  of  every  agriculturist,  as  it  contains  a  vast  amount  of  information  which,  if 
properly  put  into  practice,  must  result  in  better  and  more  certain  wheat  crops. 

from  the  American  Farmer,  Baltimore. 

We  have  examined  this  work  with  great  interest,  and  have  marked  many  of  its  page*  for 
future  reference  aud  quotations  in  our  magazine. 

Prom  Prof.  Hoyt,  in  Witconiin  Farmer. 

The  most  elaborate,  but  also  the  most  valuable  production  hitherto  published  on  that 
important  subject  in  this  country. 


From  L.  V.  Sierce,  in  Ohio  Farmer. 
lar  portion  as  partic 
No  farmer  should  bo  without  it. 


To  point  out  any  particular  portion  as  particularly  excellent,  where  all  is  fint-rate,  ii  a 
ould  bo  wit 


From  tht  Country  Gentleman. 

It  is  the  result  of  careful  and  untiring  investigation,  which,  although  conducted  with 
special  reference  to  this  crop,  it*  varieties,  growth,  etc.,  in  Ohio,  can  not  but  U  of  great 
•arvlce  to  the  farmers  of  other  States. 


PUBLICATIONS  OF  MOOEE,  WILSTAOH  &  BALDWIN. 


PRACTICAL  LANDSCAPE  GARDENING. 

By  G.  M.  K  KKN.      Containing  Ticenty-tu-o  Illustration*  and  1'lanx  for  laying  out   Grounds,  Kith 
full  directions  for  Planting  Shade  Tree».  Shrubbery  and.  Flower*.    Third  Edition.     One  volume, 
IZnto.,  Mtulin.     Price,  $1  50. 
Mr.  Kern  has  produced  the  right  book  at  the  right  moment.— Putnam's  Magazine. 

His  suggestions  are  ill  an  emiucut  degree  valuable,  and  his  opinions  (which  fire  ex- 
pressed iu  clear,  concise,  and  lucid  diction)  easily  interpreted,  by  even  tho  most  limited 
conception,  fairly  assert  hia  claim  to  a  station  in  the  foremost  rank  of  rural  improvers. — 
If.  Y.  Horticulturist. 

It  abounds  in  useful  and  tasteful  suggestions,  and  in  practical  instructions. — Nortlitm 
Farmer. 

It  is  a  very  timely  and  valuable  book Better  adapted  to  the  wautn  and  cir- 
cumstances of  our  people  than  any  other  upon  the  subject. — Ohio  Cultivator. 

No  one  can  long  walk  hand  in  hand  with  Mr.  Kern  without  being  sensible  that  ho  is  in 
the  bauds  of  oue  who  is  worthy  of  all  confidence.— Louueille  Courier. 

Has  so  nobly  succeeded  as  to  render  his  volume  an  invaluable  acquisition  to  all. — Boston 
^Traveler. 

It  is  plain  in  its  details,  aud:  Trill  be  more  valuable  to  the  million  than  any  work  on  the 
robject  of  Land.-'crtpo  Gardening  yet  published.  The  mechanical  execution  of  the  volume  is 
the  very  perfection  of  printing  aud  binding. — Ohio  Farmer. 

Admirably  calculated  to  meet  the  wants  of  the  public. — Boston  Atlas. 

By  a  careful  perusal  of  this  little  volume,  which  will  cost  but  SI  50,  the  purchaser  will 
probably  find  that  he  has  learned  what  he  has  been  all  his  life  wishing  to  know,  aud  what 
will  be  worth  to  him  more  than  ten  times  its  cost. — Xashcille  WJiiy. 

He  descends  to  the  minutest  details  of  instruction,  so  that  his  book  mav  be  taken  as  a 
manual  for  the  practical  operator. — AT.  1'.  Evangelist. 


GRAPE  AND  STRAWBERRY  CULTURE. 

The  Culture  of  the  Grape  and  Wine  Malting.  By  ROBEBT  BITCHAXAJT.  With  an  Appendix,  con- 
taining Direction*  for  the  Cultivation  of  the  Strawberry.  By  N.  LOSQWOETH.  Sixth  Edition. 
One  volume,  I2mo.,  Mutlin.  Price*  63  cents. 

It  contains  much  opportune  and  instructive  information  relative  to  the  cultivation  of 
these  two  delicious  trait*.— Michigan  Farmer. 

One  of  the  books  which  pass  current  through  the  world  on  account  of  the  great  authority 
Of  the  author's  name. — Hoboken  Gazette. 

There  are  no  men  better  qualified  for  the  undertaking. — Louisville  Journal. 

It  deals  more  with  facts,  with  actual  experience  and  observation,  and  less  with  specula- 
tion, supposition  and  belief,  than  any  thing  on  the  topic  that  has  yet  appeared  in  the 
United  States.  In  other  words,  a  mau  may  take  it  and  plant  a  vineyard,  aud  raise  grapes 
With  succes8.-Hortic«««rW. 

We  can  not  too  strongly  recommend  this  little  volume  to  the  attention  of  all  who  have  a 
Tine  or  strawberry  bed. — Farm  and  Shop. 

This  book  embodies  the  essential  principles  necessary  to  be\bserved  in  the  successful  man- 
agement of  these  fruits. — Uoston  Cultivator. 

We  have  on  two  or  thrive  occasions  said  of  this  little  book,  that  it  is  the  best  we  have  ever 
Men  on  the  subjects  of  which  it  treats.  A  man  with  ordinary  judgment  can  not  fail  iu 
grape  or  strawberry  culture,  if  he  tries  to  follow  its  advice. — Ohio  Farmer. 


HOOPER'S  WESTERN  FRUIT  BOOK. 

A  Compendious  Collection  of  Facli,  from  the  Note*  and  Experience  of  Successful  Fruit  Cult*- 
riiti.    Arranged  for  Practical  nte  in  Orchard  and  Garden.     One  volume,  12/wo.,  with  Illustra- 
tion*.    Price,  81  00. 
Three  thousand  copies  of  this  work  have  already  been  disposed  of. 


PTJBLIOATI01TS  OF  MOOBE,  WILBTACH  &  BALDWHT. 

RENOUARD'S  HISTORY  OF  MEDICINE. 

A  History  of  Medicine,  from  il»  Origin  to  the  Nineteenth  Century,  with  an  Appendix,  containing 
a  series  of  Philosophic  and  Historic  Letters  on  Medicine  of  the  present  Century,  by  Dr.  Benou. 
ard,  Paris.  Translated  from  the  French,  by  C.  G.  Comegys,  Prof.  Inst.  Med.  in  Miami  Mtd* 
ieal  College.  One  volume  octavo.  Sheep.  Price,  W  00. 

SYNOPTIC  TABLE  OF  CONTENTS  : 

I.  AGE  OF  FOUNDATION.  1.  PRIMITIVE  PERIOD:  From  the  Origla  of  Society 
to  Ihe  Destruction  of  Troy,  1184,  B.  C.  2.  SACRED  OR  MYSTIC  PERIOD  :  Ending  with 
the  Dispersion  of  the  Pythagoreans,  500,  B.  C.  3.  PHILOSOPHIC  PERIOD  :  Ending  at 
the  Foundation  of  the  Alexandrian  Library,  320,  B.  C.  4.  ANATOMICAL  PERIOD  : 
Ending  at  the  death  of  Galon,  A.  D.  200.  II.  AGE  OF  TRANSITION.  5.  GREEK  PE- 
RIOD :  Ending  at  the  Burning  of  the  Alexandrian  Library,  A.  D.  640.  6.  ARABIC  PE- 
RIOD :  Ending  at  the  Revival  of  Letters  in  Europe,  A.  D.  1400.  III.  AGE  OF  RENO- 
VATION. 7.  ERUDITE  PERIOD:  Comprising  the  Fifteenth  and  Sixteenth  Centuries. 
8.  REFORM  PERIOD :  Comprising  the  Seventeenth  and  Eighteenth  Centuries. 


From  Professor  Jackson,  of  the  University  of  . 

PHILADELPHIA,  May  1. 

My  Dear  Sir— The  work  you  have  translated,  "  Histoire  de  la  Medecine,"  by  Dr.  P.  V. 
Renouard,  is  a  compendious,  well-arranged  treatise  on  the  subject. 

Every  physician  and  student  of  medicine  should  be  acquainted  with  the  history  of  his 
science.  It  is  not  only  interesting,  but  of  advantage  to  know  the  views  and  the  interpreta- 
tions of  the  same  pathological  conditions  investigated  at  the  present  day,  in  the  past  ages. 
They  were  handled  then  with  as  much  force  and  skill  as  now,  but  without  the  scientific 
light  that  assists  so  powerfully  modern  research. 

Very  truly  yours,  SAMUEL  JACKSON. 


The  best  history  of  medicine  extant,  and  one  that  will  find  a  place  in  the  library  of  every 


i  who  aims  at  an  acquaintance  with  the  past  history  of  his  professic 

truction 


ere  are  many  items  in  it  we  should  like  to  offer  for  the  instruction  aud  amusement  of 
onr  readers. — American  Journal  of  Pharmacy. 

From  the  pages  of  Dr.  Renouard,  a  very  accurate  acquaintance  may  be  obtained  with  th« 
history  of  medicine — its  relation  to  civilization,  its  progress  compared  with  other  sciences 
and  arts,  its  more  distinguished  cultivators,  with  the  several  theories  and  systems  proposed 
by  them  ;  and  it*  relationship  to  the  reigning  philosophical  dogmas  of  the  several  periods. 
His  historical  narrative  is  clear  and  concise — tracing  the  progress  of  medicine  through  its 
three  ages  or  epochs— that  of  foundation  or  origin,  that  of  transition,  and  that  of  renova- 
tiou.— American  Journal  of  Medical  Science. 


It  is  a  work  of  profound  and  cnriotis  research,  and  win  fin  a  place  in  our  English  IHerature 
which  has  heretofore  been  vacant.  It  present*  a  compact  view  of  the  progress  of  medicine  in  dif- 
ferent ages;  a  lucid  erposition  of  the  theories  of  rival  sects;  a  clear  delineation  of  the  change* 
of  different  systems  ;  together  with  the  learingi  of  Ihe  whole  on  the  progress  of  cirilization.  Tho 
work  also  abounds  in  amusing  and  instructive  incidents  relating  to  the  medl.^1  profession. 
The  biographical  pictures  of  the  great  cultivators  of  the  science,  such  as  Hippocrates,  Gale 
Avicenna,  Haller,  Harvey,  Jenner,  and  others,  are  skillfully  drawn.  Dr.  Comegys  deseri 


IIII.-T,  xiitiitr,  narvcy,  jeuuer,  aim  tuners,  are  vniuiuuj   urawn.     _.  .    9g. 

the  thanks  of  not  only  the  members  of  the  medical  profession,  but  also  of  every  American  scholar, 
for  the  fidelity  and  success  with  which  hit  task  has  been  performed. — Harper'*  Magazine. 


From  the  British  and  Foreign  Medico-Chirurgical  Review. 

History  of  Medicine.— It  is  expressly  from  the  conviction  of  the  deficiency  of  the  English 
language  in  works  on  the  History  of  Medicine,  that  we  feel  indebted  to  Dr.  Comegys  for 
the  excellent  translation  of  tho  comparatively  recent  work  of  Renouard,  the  title  cf  which 

is  placed  at  the  head  of  this  article We  hope  before  long  to  find  that  in 

every  important  school  of  medicine  in  this  country,  opportunities  will  be  offered  to  stu- 
dents whereby  they  may  be  enabled  to  attain  some  knowledge  at  least  of  th«  history  ol 
that  profession  to  the  practice  of  which  their  live*  »re  to  bo  devoted. 


PUBLIOATIONS  OP  MOORE,  WILSTAOH  &  BALDWIN. 

THE    AMERICAN     DISPENSATORY, 

BY  JOHN  KI\«,  M.  !>., 

Pro/essor  of  Obstetrics,  and  Diseases  of  Women  and  Children,  in  tht  "  Eclectic  Medical  Insti- 
tute, Cincinnati." 

ONE    VOLUME    ROYAL    OCTAVO,   1509    PAGES. 

THE  SIXTH  EDITION,  REVISED  AND  ENLABGED, 
JTJST    IPTJIBLISJEIEID. 


/ART  I  contains  an  account  of  a  large  number  of  medicinal  plants  indigenous  to  this  coun- 
try, many  of  which  were  for  the  first  time  presented  to  the  profession  in  this  work,  giving 
their  botanical  descriptions,  general  chemical  histories,  therapeutical  properties  and  uses, 
together  with  a  large  amount  of  information  relative  thereto,  of  practical  value  to  the 
chemist,  pharmaceutist  and  physician. 

PART  II  contains  practical  pharmacy,  and  a  description  of  the  various  pharmaceutical 
compounds  iu  use  among  Medical  Kefonners,  especially  of  that  class  to  which  the  author 
belongs,  known  as  Eclectics.  The  various  chemical  and  pharmaceutical  processes  de- 
scribed are  mainly  those  of  recent  date,  and  such  as  have  been  found  by  ample  experience 
to  bo  the  best ;  these  are  fully  and  clearly  explained,  so  that  every  apothecary  may  be  en- 
abled to  prepare,  without  difficulty,  all  or  any  of  the  more  modern  preparations  of  He- 
formers,  whenever  ordered. 

PART  III  is  devoted  to  the  various  mineral  medicines,  their  chemical  histories,  therapeuti- 
cal virtues  and  uses,  together  with  a  vocabulary  explaining  the  Latin  words  and  abbre- 
viations frequently  met  with  iu  medical  prescriptions;  tables  of  doses;  weight*  and 
measures  ;  chemical  composition  of  mineral  waters  ;  specific  gravities  ;  hydrometrical 
equivalents;  solubility  of  salts,  acids,  bases,  etc.,  etc.,  all  of  which  are  of  much  utility 
and  indispensable  to  the  chemist  and  pharmaceutist.  The  work  contains  a  full  and  com- 
plete index,  so  arranged  that  any  medicine,  compound,  or  table,  etc.,  may  bo  promptly 
found  without  any  delay  or  difficulty. 

Although  many  valuable  Dispensatories  have  been  presented  to  the  Physicians  and  Phar- 
maceutists of  this  country  and  Europe,  they  have  all,  excepting  the  former  editions  of  thii 
Work,  been  confined  to  an  account  of  those  remedies  only  which  have  been  recognized  and 
employed  by  that  class  of  Physicians  termed  "  Old  School,"  or  "Allopathic,"  and  have, 
therefore,  only  partially  answered  the  purposes  of  the  largo  number  of  progressive  medical 
men  found  in  these  countries.  In  the  present  Dispensatory,  as  already  remarked,  not  only 
ore  all  the  known  medicinal  plants  described,  as  well  as  their  numerous  pharmaceutical 
compounds,  but  likewise  all  those  poisonous  mineral  agents  so  strongly  objected  to  by  the 
New -School  Physicians— thus  forming  a  volume  full  and  complete  in  itself.  There  is  no 
other  work  in  Europq  or  America  containing  such  completeness  of  information  regarding 
the  history  of  therapeutical  virtues,  and  uses  of  indigenous  and  exotic  medicinal  plants,  nor 
which  so  fully  explains  the  various  processes  by  which  their  properties  are  extracted,  or 
their  compounds  prepared ;  and,  indeed,  much  of  the  matter  presented  can  be  found  iu  no 
other  volume  extant.  To  render  the  work  practically  useful  to  the  1'hysician  and  Pharma- 
ceutist, and  to  bring  it  up  to  the  discoveries  and  improvements  iu  medical  science  of  the 
present  day,  neither  pains  nor  expense  have  been  spared.  In  bringing  the  work  up  to  it* 
present  standard  of  excellence,  the  author  has  had  the  efficient  aid  of  a  geutleman  well 
known  throughout  the  country  as  a  thoroughly  accomplished  Chemist  and  Pharmaceutist ; 
one  who  ia  daily  engaged  in  the  practical  pursuits  of  his  profession. 

NOTICES  OF  FOEMEE  EDITIONS. 

GOOD  OLD-SCHOOI  AUTHORITY.— The  American  Journal  of  Pharmacy  speaks  of  the  work  ta 
follows  :  "  We  hav«  taken  some  pains  to  give  it  a  careful  examination,  although  pressed  for 
time.  .  .  .  The  numerous  plants  which  are  brought  forward  as  Eclectic  Keine- 

ber  of  facts  of  a  Therapeutical  character,  which  deserve  to  be  studied.  Many  of  these  ar» 
capable  of  being  adopted  by  physicians,  especially  by  country  physicians,  who  havo  the  «d- 
vanUge  of  more  easily  getting  the  plants.  .  .  .  The  attention  which  is  now 


PUBLICATIONS  OF  MOOEE,  WILSTACH  &  BALDWIN. 


being  given  by  the  Eclectics,  in  classifying  and  arranging  facts  and  observations  relative  to 
American  plants,  will  certainly  be  attended  with  excellent  results. 

"  It  would  afford  us  much  pleasure  to  extract  a  number  of  articles  from  the  Eclectic  Dis- 
pentatory,  but  the  length  of  this  article  admonishes  us  to  stop ;  yet  we  can  not  close  without 
adjudging  to  Dr.  King  the  merit  of  giving  perspicuity  and  order  to  the  vast  mass  of  mate- 
rial collected  under  the  name  of  Botanical  Medicine,  and  for  his  determination  to  oppose 
the  wholesale  quackery  of  Eclectic  Chemical  Institutes.  The  Eclectics  have  opened  a  wide 
field  for  the  rational  therapeutist,  and  the  organic  chemist ;  and  we  hope  that  physicians 
and  apothecaries  will  not  be  repelled  from  reaping  the  harvest  which  will  accrue  to  obser- 
vation and  experiment.11 

The  examination  we  have  been  able  to  give  it,  has  convinced  us  that  a  great  deal  of  labor 
has  been  bestowed  upon  the  production,  and  that  it  contains  an  account  of  a  larger  number 
of  the  medical  plants  indigenous  to  our  country,  than  any  other  work  with  which  we  art 
acquainted. — Michigan  Journal  of  Medicine. 

Lengthy  reports,  commendatory  of  the  work,  have  been  made,  and  numerous  Medical  Col 
leges  have  adopted  it  as  a  text-book.  Thousands  of  copies  have  been  eagerly  purchased  by 
parties  residing  in  nearly  or  quite  every  State  of  the  Union,  in  Canada  and  the  provinces, 
and,  indeed,  in  all  parts  of  the  world  where  the  English  language  is  spoken.  At  no  former 
time  has  the  demand  been  so  urgent,  or  the  orders  on  hand  half  so  large  as  at  present. 

KING'S  AMERICAN  ECLECTIC  OBSTETRICS. 

By  JOHN  KING,  M.  D.     1  vol.  royal  8vo.,  sheep,  800  pages.  Price  $ 

We  have  carefully  examined  Dr.  King's  work,  and  can  honestly  recommend  it  as  a  safe 
and  judicious  guide  both  to  the  student  and  to  the  practitioner  of  midwifery.  In  the  treat- 
ment of  the  different  subjects  it  differs  but  little,  if  at  all,  from  the  standard  works  on  Ob- 
stetrics in  the  English  language,  except  that  the  employment  of  a  number  of  articles  of  the 
materia  medica,  not  much  in  vogue  among  regular  practitioners,  is  much  insisted  on  in  the 
medical  treatment  of  women  in  the  puerperal  state. — Boston  Medical  and  Surgical  Journal 
(Old  School).  • 

We  consider  it  as  the  best  practical  work  on  Obstetrics  extant.— Middle  States  Medical 
Reformer. 

Probably  no  man  has  done  more  than  Prof.  KING  to  elevate  the  literary  character  of  the 
particular  class  of  the  medical  profession  to  which  he  belongs.  In  this  age  of  light  and 
intelligence,  no  class  of  medical  men  can  sustain  themselves,  and  commend  their  particular 
systems  to  an  intelligent  public,  without  giving  evidence  of  high  attainments  in  literature 
as  well  as  science.  Prof.  King,  if  he  stands  not  at  the  head,  is  certainly  not  surpassed  by 
any  of  his  colleagues.  His  work  on  Obstetrics  bears  evident  marks  of  the  same  master- 
mind shown  so  conspicuously  in  his  Dispensatory.  It  is  elaborate,  thorough  in  all  its  de- 
tails, and  so  far  as  we  have  been  able  to  examine,  fully  equal  to  the  works  of  any  other  clasf 
of  physicians  on  that  subject. —  Wvrcettfr  Journal  of  Medicine. 


KS\C,'S   (JOHN,   M.    ».)    CHART    OF    URINARY    DE- 
POSITS. 

EXTRACTS  FROM  NOTICES. 

Talle  oj  Urinary  Deposits,  icilh  their  Microscopical  and  Chemical  Tests  for  Clinical  Exami- 
nations. By  John  King,  31.  D.,  Cincinnati.  This  is  a  very  valuable  chart,  giving,  at  a 
glance,  the  essential  facts  in  regard  to  the  various  forms  of  urinary  deposits,  their  chemical 
constituents,  and  their  remedies.  There  are  thirteen  well-executed  drawings,  and  several 
tables.  This  chart  can  be  framed  and  hung  up  in  the  physician's  office,  and  thus  easily 
•eferred  to.  W^e  heartily  commend  it  to  the  attention  of  our  readers.— New  Jersey  Medical 
Reporter. 

The  result  of  much  labor  and  close  observation.  It  will  be  useful  for  reference,  and  par- 
ticularly valuable  to  the  Medical  student.  Dr.  King,  of  Cincinnati,  is  the  author,  and  de- 
serves mucL  credit  for  this  valuable  contribution  to  Medical  Science. — Iowa  Medical 
Journal. 

Table  of  Urinary  Depots,  etc.  This  is  a  valuable  aid  to  any  one  who  makes  exam- 
inations of  urinary  deposits,  containing  thirteen  figures  of  these  deposits,  as  they  appear 
under  the  microscope.— Xew  Hampshire  Journal  of  Medicine. 

A  very  useful  and  vjiluable  chart.  We  congratulate  Dr.  King  on  the  manner  in  which  he 
has  condensed  this  difficult  but  important  subject,  so  ag  to  present  a  bird's-eye  aud  clear 
view  of  the  matter,  in  the  form  of  a  chart.— Philadelphia  Metlical  and  Surgical  Joumal. 


PUBLICATIONS  OF  MOORE,  WILSTACH  &  BALDWIN. 


Carefully  arranged,  and  will  prove  useful  as  a  reference  to  the  practitioner,  to  refresh  hi* 
_nemor; 
Journal 


memory,  and  materially  aid  the  student  in  getting  a  clear  idea  of  the  subject. — American 
»al  of  Pharmacy,  Philadelphia. 


Will  be  Bent  by  mail  (post-paid)  for  FIFTY  CENTS,  or  may  be  had  through  booksell 


lers. 


AMERICAN  ECLECTIC  PRACTICE  OF  MEDICINE. 

By  I.  G.  JONES,  M.  D.  Late  Professor  of  Theory  and  Practice  of  Medicine,  in  the  Kclec 
tic  Medical  Institute,  Cincinnati.  New  edition  ;  extended  and  revised,  at  request  of  the 
author,  by  WM.  SHEBWOOD,  M.  D.,  Professor  of  Medical  Practice  and  Pathology,  iu  the 
Eclectic  College  of  Medicine,  Cincinnati.  Complete  in  two  volumes,  octavo,  1,000  pages. 
Price  $ 

EXTRACTS  FROM  NOTICES. 

The  views  maintained  by  the  authors  are  stated  with  clearness  and  precision  ;  the  styio  is 
flowing  and  lively,  and  the  whole  book  is  remarkably  free  from  the  verbiage  which  i*  such 
a  general  feature  of  medical  treatises.— .tf.  I'.  Tribune. 

It  was  the  earnest  advice  of  Dr.  Rush  to  his  students,  to  thoroughly  investigate  the  indig- 
enous medicines  of  this  country  ;  and  one  great  merit  of  this  work  is  that  it  contains  de- 
scriptions of  many  recent  remedial  agents  that  are  not  embodied  in  any  other  work  on 
practice.  It  is  ably  and  lucidly  written,  and  will  highly  interest  and  instruct  all  who  read 
it.— Galena  Journal. 

Coming  from  the  source  it  does,  and  with  the  able  revisions  and  important  additions 
which  it  has  received,  this  edition  of  the  work  can  not  fail  to  be  regarded  as  a  complete 
and  reliable  text-book  of  practical  medicine,  suited  to  the  wants  and  convenience  of  such 
students  and  practitioners  as  would  desire  to  guin  the  most  useful  and  imp'irtant  informa- 
tion which  the  profession  possesses  at  the  present  day,  together  with  a  correct  knowledge 
ol  the  remedies  and  treatment,  in  the  most  desirable  form,  peculiar  to  what  is  known  as 
the  Eclectic  System  of  Medicine.  It  is  not  a  book  of  recipes,  adapted  to  routine  practice, 
but  it  is  filled  with  practical  directions  and  suggestions,  intended  for  the  intelligent  prac- 
titioner, accompanied  by  rational  explanations  of  and  reasons  for  every  procedure  recom- 
mended i'i  the  treatment  of  diseases  ;  and  every  important  paragraph  in  the  work  is  ren- 
dered at  once  accessible  by  means  of  a  complete  table  of  contents,  and  a  very  copious 
index.  The  spirit  of  the  work  is  liberal  and  eclectic  in  the  true  sense  of  those  terms,  so 
that  no  medical  man,  of  any  school,  can  take  offense  at  its  contents  ;  while  all,  it  is  be- 
lieved, will  derive  much  practical  advantage  from  a  careful  perusal  of  its  pages. — HVstern 
ChrMan  Advocate. 

We  have  received  from  the  publishers  a  copy  of  the  above  work,  and  after  giving  it  such 
a  cursory  examination  as  the  pressure  of  other  engagements  would  permit,  are  prepared  to 
say  that,  for  Eclectics  it  is,  perhaps,  the  best  work  published.  The  language  id  clear,  and 
generally  forcible,  and  being  in  the  form  of  lectures  to  his  class,  it  has  the  merit  of  free- 
dom and  liveliness  of  style,  so  necessary  iu  such  works  to  keep  up  tlie  interest  of  the 
reader.  .  .  In  regard  to  the  practical  part,  it  is  due  to  the  varied  research  of  Ihn 
authors  to  say,  that  it  contains  many  excellent  suggestions,  as  well  as  prescriptions. — 
Southern  Medical  Reformer. 

f  &  m^f  s7   V^^^      ~J^^        f  § 

Four  years  ago,  at  the  earnest  request  of  his  former  colleagues  and  friends,  the  late  Prof. 
I.  G.  Jones  had  published  the  work  of  which  we  are  now  presented  -with  a  rcvixfti  and  ex- 
tended edition  ;  and  since  then  his  practice  has  been  received  by  tho  liberal  portion  of  th« 
profession,  throughout  the  country,  as  the  practice,  and  far  superior  to  all  others. 

But  as  a  new  edition  was  called  for,  it  has  been  very  carefully  revised  at  the  request  of 
the  author,  now  deceased,  by  his  former  associate,  and  is  presented  to  the  profession  with 
many  additions,  corrections  of  errors  and  oversights. 

Tho  various  additions,  and  Notes  on  Treatment,  ns  well  as  the  new  articles  by  the  present 
editor,  hove  been  so  arranged  as  to  preserve  the  former  scope  and  design  of  the  work  ;  and 
while  it  is  rendered  more  perfect  and  complete,  the  original  arrangement  of  the  author  is 
not  interfered  with.  The  mechanical  execution  of  the  book  is  admirable  —Colle<j»  Journal. 


University  of  California  Library 
Los  Angeles 

This  book  is  DUE  on  the  last  date^npedbelo^ 

1 


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